Beyond Need
by sheba6086
Summary: Sequel to my story Need. I've brought some of my own dolls this time, but the sandbox and most of the toys in it still belong to Charlaine Harris.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Eric grabbed his cell phone from the bedside table and clicked Oliver on the speed dial. He still held Sookie's hand in the other. He didn't seem able to release her.

"Is Genevieve here? -- Have her prepare something sweet and you bring in the donors. – Yes, all three. – And do not allow Mina in yet. We do not want to risk losing her if there is an accident." He closed the phone and returned it to the table.

"An accident?" Sookie asked.

"You are not as you were, my love," Eric began. "At present your body is in need of feeding. A hungry predator will react instinctively to its prey. Turn around and give me your other arm." He prodded her and she turned so her back was to him.

"You think I'll attack them? I don't feel any urges to eat you." She couldn't help but giggle like a schoolgirl. "Well, not as a meal anyway."

"Behave," he replied seriously. "Your arm please. I have no desire to spend my evening disposing of bodies. Until we have established your capacity to resist, we must be cautious." She had dropped her arm to her side. He gently brought it behind her back with her other and held them both at the elbow with his arm.

Much to her surprise, she felt herself pulling against Eric's hold when Oliver entered the room with the three human donors. She was mesmerized at the sight of them. It was almost as if they were aliens of some kind, human and yet very different. And the sounds they made. It was extraordinary, like the rushing of a swollen creek after a heavy rain, and beyond that, a constant pounding. Her fangs were fully extended and she didn't even realize it.

Eric sat on the bed with his legs open. He sat Sookie between them and slung one leg around her. He released her arms and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Do you hear them, Dearest?"

"Yes," she said, her hands slowly rising and reaching toward them.

"The blood of which calls to you loudest?"

"Oh, that one," she said softly, pointing at a woman about her own age, with short strawberry blonde hair. "Can I have her?"

"You are Queen, my love. You may have any you wish." He took Sookie's arms back and held them at her sides as he nodded for the woman to come sit on the bed beside them. "Sit sideways, with your back to us," he instructed. "And try to be as still as possible."

As the woman got closer, Sookie strained against Eric's grip, but of course it was a futile effort. Even as a vampire, she was nowhere near a match for him. The woman sat as she was told and turned her head to the left.

"Shhh," Eric hummed at Sookie, in an attempt to calm her. "The sounds you hear are her heart beating and pumping her blood through her veins. The sounds are louder as your thirst increases and they will fade as you are sated.

Remember, Sookie, they are very fragile. They tear and break easily. You must take care. You must learn to be efficient and quick, so as to be most productive for yourself and least damaging for your donor.

Now, Dearest, this is very important. We will lean forward and I want you to place your lips at the base of her neck, at the shoulder. Do not bite. Keep your mouth closed over your fangs."

"Oh my god," she said, running her tongue over her teeth. "I have fangs!"

Eric chuckled softly. "And they are very elegant indeed. I look forward to feeling them myself. But in the mean time, your attention please. You can already hear her heartbeat, now feel it. Drag your lips up her neck until you feel the place where it pounds strongest."

He watched intently as Sookie did as she was told. She moved slowly up the woman's neck, then suddenly dropped back a bit and stopped. "There," he said. "Where it is strongest. Bite there."

The strawberry blonde flinched as Sookie bit into her, began to suck and struggled to free her arms from Eric's grasp.

"Don't fight, Dearest, you will hurt her." Sookie jerked and the woman cried out, but she didn't try to get away. Eric held Sookie in place and spoke softly in her ear. "Listen to the blood, Sookie. Are you listening?"

"Mmmm," Sookie responded.

"Close your eyes and listen. At the first sign of it slowing, you must stop. Oliver and I will help you."

Eric shifted Sookie's arms back into one of his, thus freeing one of hi hands to take the woman's wrist and track her pulse.

Cradling Sookie so close, coupled with holding the hand of her prey as he watched her feed was more arousing than Eric had thought to prepare for. And when a trickle of blood began to drip down the woman's back, the compulsion to lean in and lick it was almost more than he was able to withstand.

His attention was diverted by a slight change in the woman's pulse. "Do you feel it, Sookie? Withdraw now."

She made a disappointed mewling sound, but after a few seconds she did as she was told. "But –"

"Yes, my love, you still thirst. That is to be expected. Oliver, take her out."

Oliver led the woman from the bedroom and Eric motioned to the male to come and sit on the bed. It was much easier this time. Sookie found her mark swiftly and she didn't fight to free herself. Before the pulse had slowed she retracted her fangs and turned, placing her head on Eric's chest. He released her arms and dismissed Oliver along with the donors.

"You no longer hear the heartbeat?"

"No," she said and hugged him tight. Then she looked up into his eyes and said, "I would have killed that woman if you weren't holding me, wouldn't I? I'm a killer now."

"There is no knowing for certain, but it is likely the woman would not have survived had you been alone with her. Perhaps you wouldn't have drained her, but from the way you were struggling, you would probably have injured her.

And no, you are not a killer. You are a predator, very different. Of course, you are capable of killing, but you were capable of killing last week as well. You would merely be better at it now. Predation is not murder. It is feeding, nothing more. It is a simple survival mechanism, like birds flying south for the winter. But since you will have an endless supply of willing donors at your disposal, the chances of you killing one of them will be slim, once you learn to keep yourself properly fed."

"And how do I do that?"

"Quell the call of the blood. Because you are newly turned, your instinct will be to overfeed. This is fine and will do no harm to you, but take care to withdraw from your donor if you feel the blood slowing. Until you can heed the slowing and withdraw on your own, Oliver or I will be with you at all times, for the protection of everyone in our household.

And of course, you can sample the varieties of Tru Blood to see which is most tolerable for you so we can be certain to have a supply on hand as a supplement. Best at first to feed several times per evening, smaller amounts, never reach the slowing, avoid the thirst altogether."

"Something just occurred to me," Sookie said suddenly.

"And what is that, my love?" Eric asked with a smile.

"I haven't told you I still love you. That's what I was afraid of most. That turning would change how I felt about you. That I wouldn't love you so much."

"And do you?" he asked, placing his hands on her back and pulling her close. This had been a major concern of his as well. Her body answered before her voice as he felt her reaction to his touch, the familiar ripple running up her spine. Even the soft sigh remained as it reached her neck. Lovely. He had so feared the possibility of having to give it up.

"More than I ever dreamed possible," she said before kissing him. The passion of her embrace was not to be denied. The world would have to wait.

Everything about him was new. The way he felt against her skin and his scent and oh, the taste of him. Had he always been this salty sweet? Surely not. Even her mortal death could not have made her forget this taste.

She was lost in the fog of rediscovering him inch by delicious inch. She barely noticed as he removed their clothing. In her enthusiasm, her fangs nicked him several times, twice drawing blood. It was so difficult to open her mouth without them cutting into whatever she had her mouth on. They were so sharp and it took so little pressure.

From his moaning and the encouragement of his body, it was no secret Eric was enjoying this little exercise quite a lot. Until she reached his lower abs, at which point he pulled her up and flipped her onto her back.

"What are you doing? I wanted –", she protested.

"I know what you wanted."

"You mean you don't?" The disappointment was clear in her voice.

"Sookie, you cannot possibly imagine how much I do, but in the interest of being able to continue fully enjoying sex with you I must consider what an inconvenience it would be for our pleasure to be interrupted by the need for re-growing any parts accidentally severed by a slip of the fang."

"Oh my god!" she shouted. "I never thought, really? I could do that, couldn't I? And I wouldn't even know it until it was too late and – oh no." Her eyes were wide as she considered the possibilities of the damage she could do without even thinking about it. "And here, I already bit you several times without meaning to, oh but you taste so good and – well, you really do you know."

Eric pulled her close and nuzzled her neck before whispering in her ear. "I assure you, my love, were I not taking great pleasure in your activities I would have stopped you before I did. As it happens, I was finding it quite thrilling to be your personal pincushion. So much so I shall return the favor."

Nothing could have prepared her for the jolt that reverberated through her when he bit into her neck. 'More intense' he'd said. If this is what he meant by more intense, she might not survive it when he entered her. Being bitten had always been very intimate, but this, this was like the aftershocks of an orgasm, cascading through her as she felt each drop of her blood which left her body.

"Now," she groaned, lifting her legs and wrapping them around his waist. "I need to feel you inside me."

She had never felt more alive. Every fiber of her being received him. It was as though he filled her completely. She felt him from her hair to her toes. They were one flesh, so overcome with lust, love, pleasure, whatever this was it was almost too much to endure.

The pace he set was furious and Sookie fought to keep up despite her longing to devote her attention to the exciting new sensations rumbling through her with his every move. Her skin sizzled. Each time he touched her she could almost hear the crackle as she seemed to burst like confetti poppers in all directions. By the time she reached her release she was completely spent and convinced her choice was the right one. This feeling was worth any price.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

**4 months earlier**

It was a typical weekday night in Merlotte's. There wasn't much going on so Sam had left early, leaving Terry tending bar. Hoyt was slowly nursing his Dixie Draft and watching Jason get plastered.

"Don't ever do it, Hoyt. Once you've done it, you can't ever take it back and they all remember it forever." Jason took a long look around the bar, stopping for a few seconds on each woman as if trying to find one who was different. "It's like they all have the same memory or something. So they all get mad about shit that ain't got anything to do with them." Jason dropped his face into his hands and shook his head.

Hoyt wasn't buying it. "But I thought you liked being married. You always said you did. At first anyway, before Crystal – well, before she –"

Jason jumped up and clapped a hand over Hoyt's mouth. "What the hell is wrong with you? Haven't you heard a word I've been saying? Don't let anybody hear you say that. It's bad enough everybody knows I got married in the first place. Now they know it's possible for me to do it, that's all they think about. I can't get laid in this town any more without the woman measuring my windows for drapes and making sure I know what size ring she wears."

"I reckon we need some new women in town. Or else we need to start doing our drinking someplace else," Hoyt said.

"You got that right," Jason said.

Then as if on cue, a beautiful young woman they'd never seen before came through Merlotte's front door. Once inside, she paused briefly and shook her head, running her fingers through her thick brown hair and giving it a toss. She looked around the room as if she expected to see people she knew, then she smiled and sashayed straight to the jukebox.

Her clinging mini dress allowed even the most unimaginative man in the room to envision exactly what she would look like as he mounted her. And when she leaned over to read the song selections, a testosterone traffic jam materialized behind her.

Not being one to pass on a challenge, Jason made his way to the wall and edged in beside the jukebox. Naturally, he was on the side with the money slots.

"See anything you like?" Jason asked, expertly locking her in his gaze when she looked up.

"Does that line usually work?" she asked and dropped her eyes back to the song list.

Most of the five or six men gathered around her laughed and even Jason managed a smirk and a short chuckle. "A simple question. Just wondering how many songs you wanted to play, so I'd know how much money to shove into this thing."

She stood up and looked at the gaping group behind her. "That's all any of you think about, isn't it? Shoving things into other things. It must be really boring inside your heads." When she was met with chuckles all round she lowered her eyes and glanced at each of them to see just how excited they were to see her. "Both of them," she added with a sigh.

She pushed the closest guy and stepped forward. They made way for her and when she got past them, she was standing right next to Hoyt. "Mind if I sit with you for a minute?"

Hoyt turned bright pink and didn't answer, but he stood up and reached to pull out a chair for her.

Jason beat him to it. "Allow me," Jason said as he moved the chair backward and into the knee of one of the guys hanging a little too near. "May I introduce my best friend, Hoyt Fortenberry," he added with a sweeping gesture. "Please, sit."

The girl sat down and Jason waved to their waitress. "What can we get for you?" he asked as he took his own seat.

"Just a Coke," she replied to Jason. Then to Hoyt, she said, "He always just sort of take over like that?"

Hoyt was still quite pink, but he managed to answer. "He's the crew foreman at work. I guess he's just used to being in charge."

"Does he have a name?"

"'Course I do," Jason said with a stunning grin, as he leaned across the table toward her. "Jason Stackhouse, the new love of your life."

"Silly me. I probably should have recognized you."

"I forgive you," Jason said. "Now if you'll tell us your name, we'll all be even. "

"I guess if you're the love of my life, it would be rude not to tell you my name," she glanced between them once, as if making a comparison, then continued. "I'm Candia Gray."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

"How do you feel?" Eric asked.

"Clean," Sookie answered and stuck out her tongue. She was sitting on the edge of the tub and toweling her hair, and she knew perfectly well that wasn't the answer he was looking for. Since he was apparently going to stand and stare at her until he got a satisfactory answer, she said, "I'm fine. I'm more than fine. I feel great."

"And you do not thirst?"

"Not at all." She smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. She must have succeeded because he returned her smile.

"Excellent. I was not the only person awaiting you."

Sookie smirked up at him. "My public awaits?"

"I'm certain they do, my love, but let us keep to our household for now." He leaned and kissed the top of her head. "The world outside our walls can wait a bit longer."

"I'm anxious to see Mina."

"She took very good care of you as you slept. I believe she is eager to see you as well."

Eric stepped out of the bathroom as Sookie continued drying. He went to his dressing room, but she could hear him call Oliver. "Do we have donors ready? – We will be out in about ten minutes. Have someone warm one of the bags from a Taste of Louisiana box. Pour it into a glass and have it ready. – Make sure everyone has been instructed."

Sookie put on a calf length denim halter dress, very tight and flared at the hip. She sat at her dressing table staring blankly into the mirror brushing her hair and wondering what kind of monster people she cared about were expecting to come walking into the living room.

She was snapped out of her trancelike state by Eric's voice behind her. "Allow me," he said, taking the brush from her and beginning to brush her hair in slow, gentle strokes. "You have nothing to fear or worry about, my love."

"Do I look worried?"

"You do. Indeed, you feel worried, but it is for naught. Leaving this room will be no different now than it ever was."

"Really? Have people always needed to be instructed before I entered a room?"

Eric chuckled softly. "Of course, you are correct on that point. A brief warning for their own protection, that is all. You are in your adjustment phase. In order to make the transition as smooth as possible for everyone, it is important you not be startled. They must be encouraged to avoid doing anything which might trigger an instinctual reaction from you. You must not be alarmed by sudden movements, unexpected loud noises or anything which might provoke you to react in a defensive manner.

Living among humans is a learned behavior for a vampire. Particularly for a new vampire, which seems contradictory considering they have so recently been human themselves. It is your nature now to see humans and react to them as prey. You must learn to see them as something much less innocuous. As something which is simply another part of your surroundings."

"Like furniture," she said sadly.

"More like birds. There are large numbers of them, some are more attractive than others, some can make for amusing pets. But they are easily frightened and may change their minds and move quickly without notice.

In the eyes of a predator, sudden movements are interpreted as attempts to escape, thus eliciting the instinct to pounce or give chase. Until you have learned to control the reaction, they must control their movements.

Do not be concerned, my love. Your desire to be among them will help you learn quickly." He put the brush on the table and leaned to kiss her hair. "Perfect."

Sookie looked up at him and smiled. "Let the testing begin."

He laughed as he took her hand and led her to the door. She felt like an un-housebroken puppy being led on a leash into a room with white carpeting. The owner was willing to let her come in, but needed to be able to yank her back in a hurry if she started to pee … or worse.

When Eric opened the door, Pam was standing just outside. "Sookie! We've all been waiting for you so long! Actually they've only been waiting about a day and a half, but I've been begging Daddy for a baby sister for centuries."

"Not now, Pam," Eric said.

She bent her head in submission, but lifted it again when Sookie began laughing. "You didn't lose your laugh," Pam said. Turning to Eric she said, "You've gotten better at it."

Eric closed his eyes. He shouldn't have let Pam come here tonight. "There is much to be said for only children."

As was her habit, Mina saved the moment and averted a disaster which could have potentially been worse than any damage Sookie might cause. She moved quickly but calmly into the kitchen, took the bloodbag out of the microwave and drained it into a wine glass.

She took small quiet steps to Sookie. Without ceremony, she stepped between Eric and Pam and looked Sookie directly in the eye. "Welcome home, Your Majesty," she said with a sort of low, partial curtsy. "We have all been very anxious to see you again. You look wonderful."

Mina held out the glass. Sookie didn't respond immediately. It was as if she was seeing Mina for the first time. Had she always been this beautiful? Maybe Oliver had said something particularly flattering to her to give her this glow. Sookie reached for the glass, but before she could take it her hand dropped to Mina's arm, just above her wrist. She could see the veins pulsating beneath Mina's skin.

Everyone in the room froze. Oliver was paralyzed. There was nothing he could do for Mina. He could make no move to defend her so long as it was his Mistress who posed the threat. Pam looked on as if this was the most entertaining scene she'd witnessed on decades.

Eric spoke first, though he made no move since Sookie was only holding Mina's arm. "Dearest?"

"No," Mina said calmly. "It's alright." She slowly moved her left hand and took the glass from her right. Handing the glass toward Pam she said, "Would you mind, please."

At first, Pam looked as if Mina had asked her to scrub the floors, but she took the glass.

"Thank you," Mina whispered. "Oliver has your donors in the suite next door, but I would be honored to offer myself to you." Almost imperceptibly she began to turn her wrist toward Sookie.

Sookie watched the movement as if it were the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen. When the wrist was completely turned up to her, Sookie looked up. "Mina?"

Mina smiled and raised her wrist a bit.

Sookie looked back down at Mina's wrist and her own hand holding it. She released Mina's arm, stepped forward and took Mina in her arms. Immediately Eric's arm was between them and Oliver dropped into a heap on the floor.

"Wait!" Mina said, and without even thinking about it, she placed her left hand in the middle of Eric's chest. "Your Majesty, please," she coaxed. "She will not harm me."

"My dear friend." Sookie's voice was barely audible. "You're such a comfort to me." Sookie held her in a close hug, making no attempt to bite.

Eric stepped back and Oliver looked like he'd just witnessed a miracle.

Sookie released Mina and turned to Pam. "I think I'll have that now," she said, taking the glass. She took a sip and scrunched up her nose. "Almost as bad as Tru Blood once it starts to cool." Eric laughed out loud and the tension in the room eased.

When it was clear Sookie was allright, for the moment at least, Mina dropped to one knee and lowered her head in Eric's direction. "My apologies for touching Your Majesty without invitation. And for treating Sheriff Ravenscroft with disrespect."

"Mina," Sookie said, looking between Eric and Pam. She reached down and took Mina's hand. "Mina, don't be silly. You have offended no one. Come, you must sit with me."

When Mina looked up, she looked at Eric.

"Eric, tell her to sit with me."

Eric looked down at Mina. "No offense was taken, Mina. You acted in service of our Queen."

Mina stood and Sookie pulled her close, making it clear to everyone Mina was under her protection and not to be bothered.

There was a collective sigh of relief in the room as Sookie walked into the living area and sat in the middle of the sofa. Eric sat to her right and Mina clung to her left. The others filed by to bow and welcome Sookie back as if she'd been gone for years.

Genevieve was as bubbly as ever and offered to warm Sookie another Taste of Louisiana. Pams pets all greeted her warmly and Ausra smiled and was pleased to report she had received word that Saule was recovering very well and would be ready to return to training in a week or so. She would be returning as an instructor and she was looking forward to seeing Sookie again.

"Who will she instruct?" Sookie asked.

"This has been the topic of my negotiations with the Lithuanian Ambassador, my love," Eric began. "Lithuania has long been an area offered to the Britlingens for their training exercises within this dimension. In exchange for being their host, King Vincentas receives the services of a constant team of four guards, which he uses as daylight guardians for himself and Lady Anna and as personal guards for Lady Anna during evening hours.

Since coming out of the coffin, more vampires are seeking their services and they are in need of additional training space."

"So you're bringing them here!" Sookie said excitedly. "That's brilliant! So Saule will come back here. That's perfect."

"You have no objections?" Eric asked. He had expected pouting at the very least and at worst that he would be forced to simply demand she accept guards whether she liked it or not.

"I'm not always completely unreasonable," she said with a smile and a sudden blush. "I may be a vampire now, but if I understand correctly I'm probably gonna be the weakest vampire in any room I walk into. So I guess it would be pretty stupid of me to refuse protection. Especially until we find out if I'm still as much of a trouble magnet as I always was."

"You remain a constant surprise to me, Dearest." He lifted her hand to his lips and lingered there. "Eternity may not be long enough."

Sookie leaned back and laid her head on Eric's chest. "Will you play for us, Belladonna?" she asked.

"Of course, Majesty. Would you like to hear something in particular?"

"Play something pretty."

Belladonna went to the piano and settled on Mozart's Sonata No.11. As she played, Talon and Heller turned on the TV, with the volume muted, and started playing a video game. Jinx perched behind them to watch. Pandora went into the kitchen, followed by Genevieve. Pam stood near Belladonna and stared out the window, into the night.

Sookie squeezed Mina's hand and nuzzled Eric's chest. Her home was still a happy place. A place where she was content and surrounded by the love and contentment of others, a place where Gran would have been comfortable.

Sookie closed her eyes and listened to Belladonna play. The tune was beautiful and there seemed to be a brook of gently flowing water babbling just behind the melody. She'd have to ask Belladonna how she did that.

Her hold on Mina's hand tightened just a bit and without even thinking about it, she began stroking the veins in Mina's wrist with her thumb.

Mina glanced up at Oliver. He was watching her intently. She smiled at him and nodded slightly. Unnoticed by anyone, Oliver slipped quietly from the penthouse.

When he returned a few minutes later, he had a brunette woman with him. The woman smiled at everyone and visibly sighed when her eyes rested on Eric.

Sookie couldn't help herself. She laughed out loud as she looked at the woman. "I don't think so," she said to the woman as she stood.

"Dearest?"

Trying to stifle her giggles, she looked at Eric and explained, "She's wondering if sleeping with you is part of the bargain."

Oliver closed his eyes and Eric looked at the woman as if she were now the one who might pee on the carpet. Sookie waved and said, "This way," as she headed toward the bedroom.

Eric stood and reached for Sookie's hand. "I'll join you, my love."

Oliver looked at the woman, who was standing staring after Sookie and Eric. "Should I get someone else?" he asked.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry," the woman stuttered and walked to the bedroom. Eric closed the door after them.

"Sit there," Eric instructed. He pointed to the center of the foot of the bed. The woman obeyed and sat, glancing back and forth between Eric and Sookie.

"She doesn't like me," Sookie said as she looked at the woman. The water in the brook was flowing faster now. Belladonna hadn't been making that sound after all.

"No, Your Ma—," the woman began, but Eric cut her off.

"Be silent!"

The woman shut up and redirected her eyes to the floor in front of her.

Eric stood directly in front of the woman and pulled Sookie close so she was facing him. As he held her right hand, he reached down and gently grasped the woman's right hand and placed it in Sookie's left. It hadn't been too long since Sookie had fed. She wouldn't need much now.

"Find the strongest point and bite lightly."

Sookie lifted the woman's wrist and brushed her lips across it. The rhythm of her pulse was like a lullaby. Sookie closed her eyes and bit. The woman barely flinched.

After only one deep draw something was different. The temperature of the blood unexpectedly jumped. Sookie opened her eyes wide and looked up to see something she had never seen before. Eric was feeding from the woman's other wrist.

Sookie almost dropped her wrist, but Eric quickly raised their joined hands and caught it so she didn't release her bite. As they stared into each other's eyes, she sucked and the hot blood ran through her like a torrent.

Then Eric took a long draw from the other wrist and Sookie could feel that as well. As she stared into his eyes she could feel him coursing through her, filling her with his very being. She watched the corners of his mouth tilt slightly up and his eyes ablaze.

He stopped and again raised their joined hands and touched under her chin. She began suckling, though she could no longer hear the calling. She saw Eric smile again and he took a quick draw then released the wrist. The shockwave that produced caused her to release the woman as well. She swallowed hard and squeezed Eric's hand.

Eric nudged the woman's shoulder. "Get out."

"Did I do something wrong?" the woman asked as she stumbled to her feet. "Is that it?"

"Get out!" Sookie cried as she lunged into Eric's waiting arms.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Dr. Ludwig closed the exam room door behind her and was immediately approached by the couple across the hall.

"Well?" The man's gruff voice was clearly that of a man accustomed to having his curiosities satisfied quickly.

"She's pregnant, but you knew that. It's twins. You probably didn't know that." Dr. Ludwig stood several steps back from the couple so she didn't have to crane her neck quite so much.

"But are they -," the woman began. She looked up into the fury blazing in her husband's eyes. "Can you tell yet – umm, we need to know if –"

"They're Were," Dr. Ludwig stated unceremoniously.

The woman's sigh of relief echoed down the hall. She smiled and grasped her husband's hand. She looked at his face, expecting to see it had softened. She heart fell when she realized she was mistaken.

"Are they wolves?" he asked. There was no change in his tone.

This question had never even occurred to the woman. "Rafe! You can't believe she would –"

"Sanda, please. Dr. Ludwig, are they wolves?"

"I don't know. There's no way to test without risking injury to them."

"Do the test."

"Rafe, no!" Sanda pleaded. "You can't mean that. We can't risk them."

"I won't do it," Dr. Ludwig said, looking calmly into Rafe's eyes. He was a massive man and likely still taller than Dr. Ludwig even in his transformed state. "If you people would stop killing each other long enough to send someone to med school, you could do something when I pissed you off. Until then, looks like you'll just have to suck it up."

Rafe would have given anything right then to ram one of his balled fists through Dr. Ludwig's skull. But she was right. For now, she was the only doctor available to supes in the Shreveport area. Most would make do without her, but the vamps didn't like taking their pets to other doctors, doctors who might have too many questions about the natures of injuries. And Alcide would frown on any act, which might incite the vamps.

Rafe turned to his wife and shook his hand free of hers. "She's our firstborn, Sanda. We have to be sure. Make her name him. Or tonight she goes before the council."

Despite her tears, she knew the look on her husband's face. He would not change his mind. His loyalty to the pack trumped all else, including the life of his firstborn. "You know what Alcide will do," she said.

"The purity of the pack must be maintained. I'm going to the car. Get her."

Rafe left the building and Sanda turned her tearstained face to Dr. Ludwig. "Thank you doctor," Sanda said as she walked by the doctor and opened the exam room door. "Hurry up, Candia. Your father's waiting."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Being a vampire wasn't perfect, even if you were a queen, but then nothing was. Despite its imperfections, Sookie found much to enjoy about her new life.

Very near the top of the list was sleep. Whoever coined the phrase 'sleeping like the dead' must have been a vampire because they hit the nail right on the head. Sookie had never in her life had such restful sleep. She had never been more refreshed when she woke or more eager to get moving right away.

Eric had been at her side every minute for the first three days. Tonight he was going to Fangtasia and then his new office at The Asgard. Between the overthrow, the Gala and Sookie's turning much of his local business had been neglected and Bobby Burnham had begged for a long meeting to get caught up.

Eric stepped into her dressing room before leaving. "How do you feel?"

Sookie turned and smiled up at him, placing a hand on his stomach. "You tell me. Where do you feel me? Here? Or maybe higher, nearer your heart?"

"Lower, my lover," he said with a smirk. "I conjure the feeling of you easily and often."

She snorted and slapped his chest. "Not exactly the feeling I was talking about," she laughed as she went and sat at her dressing table.

"Yet one I treasure near as much," he said, standing behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders as they looked at one another through their reflections in the mirror. "As for our bond, it tells me you are well fed, only a slight case of jitters, full of energy, desirous to test yourself and explore your surroundings without me hanging about your neck, and beautiful, above all beautiful."

"The bond told you all that, did it?"

"Every word. Verbatim," he said, leaning and kissing the top of her head. "And now, I must force myself to leave you. You have Oliver and the others to care for you. I will be near enough to know if you need me."

She reached up and held onto one of his hands. "I always need you," she said softly. "But I'm fine, go." He kissed her cheek and was gone. She smiled to herself and finished brushing her hair.

When Sookie emerged from her bedroom, she was greeted by only her immediate household. The novelty of 'oh look, Sookie's a vampire' had passed for Pam, so she and her pets had not been at the door at the stroke of sunset.

Sookie perched on a barstool and asked for a pen and paper. "We need to make a list," she announced.

Within seconds Oliver had produced a yellow legal pad and an assortment of pens and placed them on the bar in front of her. Sookie started to speak but stopped herself. Oliver, Mina, Genevieve and Ausra were all standing in a semi-circle around her waiting for her to tell them what to do.

"First off, let's move to the table," Sookie said. Sookie got up and everyone followed her to the dining table. She sat at the head and asked that Oliver and Mina sit at either side. Genevieve then sat beside Mina and Ausra beside Oliver.

When everyone was seated, Sookie began. "As you all know, I enjoy informal surroundings, particularly at home and with my family. We may not share a blood relationship, but we share a home, so as far as I'm concerned we're family. I will not be called, Your Majesty by family, in our own home. If you absolutely can't bear to call me Sookie, then I will tolerate ma'am or Mistress, but nothing more. Is everyone clear on that point?"

Sookie looked around the table as they nodded. She ended with Oliver who, as she expected, appeared to be having the biggest struggle with this issue. "Oliver?" she asked after a few seconds.

"Quite clear, Mistress," he responded with a nod.

"Good," she said with a smile. "Now we can move on to more important things.

I've found one thing to be just as true for a vampire as it was for a human, perspective is everything. I used to think it was just vain for vamps to have people to get them dressed and do their hair, but now I see the point more clearly. Those things may be factors, but the main issue is time. Since we can't simply get up earlier or go to bed later if we want more time, anything which saves time becomes more valuable.

We are going to need to expand our household, so we need to establish everyone's place in it.

Oliver, of course you are head of security. The Britlingens will coordinate through you to arrange for who and how many have access to the house as well as for events or whatever security concerns you have. I would like to be kept informed of the security around me personally so I feel secure and I'm not surprised by anything, but you will answer directly to Eric since I know he will insist on having the last word on security issues anyway.

Ausra, I understand you and Saule will be in charge of the training center, correct?"

"Yes, Mistress. I will be Saule's lieutenant," Ausra answered.

"I would like the two of you to continue living here, if you have no objection."

"I'm sure Saule will be as honored as I am to accept your invitation," Ausra said with the first real smile Sookie had seen on her face since Saule was injured.

"Good. Now Mina, I'm not sure exactly what title to give you. What do you think of secretary or personal assistant or something? I don't think Dear Friend sounds official enough."

There were several giggles and the general mood relaxed.

"Anyway," Sookie continued to Mina, "I'd like you to take care of my daylight business and be in charge of my schedule. Of course, you'll need to make any appointments and arrangements in the afternoon hours since you will be with me at least part of every evening. You wouldn't be able to be up all day and then into the night every night as well.

The first thing on your agenda is to contact Shana and get her here as soon as possible. I want to talk to her about moving in here. In daylight I could throw my hair in a ponytail and go out with no makeup. Getting ready to go out in the evening takes longer and since that's all the time I have now, I want to waste as little as possible. Less time spent on prep means more time for other things.

Genevieve, I assume you will be staying with us?"

"I like my job very much," Genevieve said nervously.

"But?"

"But I don't want to become a pet or anything. I want to be able to leave if I choose too."

"No one would expect you to make the commitment of a pet. But Genevieve, even if you did, it would have nothing to do with your ability to leave. Anyone here can leave any time they wish. Well, anyone but Oliver, but that's a different issue.

I want you here, but only if you want to be here."

Genevieve smiled and nodded. "I want to be here."

"Great. You will be in charge of the house. You'll need at least one maid and a kitchen assistant. I think it would be best if we could fill the positions from among the fangbangers, simply so we don't have to deal with the fear factor and since they would be honored to be in this house, they would be more motivated to do a good job. Mina can help you screen them since she has worked among them for long enough to know them and tell the ones who are sincere from the ones who aren't."

"I can think of a few people you may want to talk too," Mina said to Sookie.

"Thank you, Mina. You can contact them and arrange for them to meet with Genevieve. She's the one they need to impress. She'll need to be comfortable with them and their abilities.

Genevieve, when you find someone you like, hire them on a two week trial basis so we can see how well they fit in with all of us. We can't add anyone who will disrupt our household. You can arrange for them a regular room in the hotel for their trial time, if they're hired, we'll move them up here.

Now, if you'll warm me something first, I think I'd like to go for a walk downstairs."

Oliver stood. "Shall I bring you a donor, Your um, Mistress?"

"No thank you, Oliver. I need to not be dependent on having people available to me every minute. I want to be able to go at least three hours without needing a donor. I'd like to be able to watch a movie or go to a party without draining someone halfway through."

"You are new yet," Oliver replied. "As time passes you will feel the call less frequently. In only a year or so you should be satisfied with only one major feeding per night."

"Well, between now and then I need to work out some kind of routine to control the call so I can function and go about my life without being a threat to anyone.

I think that's about all I could think of to go over. Does anyone have any questions for me or about how things will work from now on?"

"Sounds like things will be very much as they have been," Ausra said.

"That's the goal," Sookie added. "I want as little change as possible so everyone can be as comfortable as possible."

Genevieve returned with a wine glass. Sookie took it and sipped. The taste was so different than it was directly from the source.

When she was human and had such a wide variety of food available to her, she had never understood what a difference freshness made. Sure, she'd heard the commercials and seen the signs, but she'd never really thought about it. Now she was limited to one type of nourishment and freshness literally meant the difference between the taste being such heaven it was near orgasmic, and being barely tolerable.

She drank the remainder of the blood in the glass quickly. It became less bearable as it cooled and she wanted to empty the glass before she had to choke it down. When it was gone she smiled and handed the empty glass back to Genevieve. "Thank you."

"Mina, would you please grab a purse and put one of the sample bags in it, just in case. Then I'd like you and Oliver join me downstairs."

"Mistress, do you feel well enough?" Oliver asked.

"I feel fantastic, thank you," she replied with a broad smile. "Never better. And I'll depend on you to restrain me if it turns out I'm not as ready as I think I am."

"Restrain you, Mistress?" Oliver looked horrified at the thought.

"Yes, Oliver. It isn't enough for you to simply keep others away from me. If anything happens, I'm the problem, not them. The problem is what needs to be removed from a situation. If something happens, you must remove me, bring me back here and see that I don't hurt anyone.

Will you be able to do this? Should we bring Ausra?"

"Ausra is an excellent guard, and she could protect you against most things, but she could never contain you, not even as new as you are."

"Then it's up to you, my friend."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

When Candia and her parents arrived in the council chamber, Alcide and the four other members of the council were finishing up their interview of a handsome young werewolf named Conall Bayer. Apparently he had come from Europe and was looking to join a pack. This was his second interview and his formal physical and medical trials were to begin soon.

When that interview was over, Rafe stood and asked to be heard. He briefly explained his dilemma with Candia.

"How is it you and Sanda missed the signs that she had matured and reached breeding age?" Alcide asked.

"We had been concerned and Sanda took her to Dr. Ludwig last year to find out if there was a physical problem. We were told though Candia was fifteen at the time and appeared outwardly to be fully matured, that internally she was still a little behind."

"And now she has caught up."

"Yes."

"Bring her forward."

Sanda gave Candia a push from behind and she lurched forward. She stood very close to her father and was stunned when he stepped away from her, leaving her standing alone in front of Alcide with only her fear and nerves for company.

"Do you understand why you're here?" Alcide asked her. His tone was kind but firm.

"My parents want to know who is father of my babies," she replied in almost a whisper.

"And why do you suppose the pack leader would get involved in a dispute like this between parents and their own child?"

Candia looked around at her parents, but neither offered her anything. "I don't know."

"Then you really don't understand why you're here."

Alcide got up, walked around his desk and sat on the front, directly facing Candia.

"The greatest threat to the strength of the pack is our ability to interbreed and allowing ourselves to give in to that ability. As you know, those who are born werewolves are the strongest of our kind. And when two werewolves mate, only their firstborn will be a werewolf.

You are such a firstborn. That makes you special. That makes it important to the pack that your first mating is with a wolf of the pack, so your firstborn will be the strongest possible addition."

"To the pack," she said solemnly.

"Yes."

"And what if I choose a wolf outside the pack?"

"Impossible. Our territory is well known and the law is clear. Any outside male crossing our territory would be subject to death for mating with one of our females. And she would likely be abjured by the pack."

Candia could feel her stomach churning and she felt a trembling beginning deep inside her and threatening to surface any moment. "And if it was someone not a wolf? Some other shifter perhaps, or even a human?" she asked weakly, her wide, golden brown eyes never leaving Alcide.

"I notice you did not say 'if you chose' someone not a wolf. Are you saying the mating was not your choice? Were you forced?"

Candia heard her mother gasp behind her. And her father took one step closer to her. The mood in the room was tilting slightly. Tears welled in her eyes as she wrapped both arms around her stomach. "My babies," she whimpered and dropped to her knees.

"Candia!" Sanda cried and knelt protectively over her daughter. "Alcide, please, she has suffered enough."

"Candia, look at me," Alcide said evenly. "You must name your attacker."

Candia burst into hysterical sobs and covered her face with her hands.

"Your children will be accepted if you choose to keep them, but you must name your attacker," Alcide said. "An example must me set. This cannot be allowed to stand. He represents a threat to every female in the pack."

"He said he was the new love of my life," she sobbed from behind her hands. She looked up at her father. "Daddy, I'm so sorry! You always told me not to go driving alone, but I did and I pulled over for gas in Bon Temps and –" She had to cover her face again and renew her sobs. The room was on her side now. Everyone felt sorry for her, everyone but Conall, who stood smiling his admiration on the opposite side of the room.

"Do you know his name, Candia?" Alcide insisted. "If not, then we need a description."

"Jason Stackhouse!" she screamed and threw herself into her mother's arms.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

The elevator doors opened and Oliver stepped through first. He stood blocking the door as he looked around, taking in their surroundings and the number of people present. When he was satisfied the situation was manageable, he stepped aside so Sookie and Mina could come out.

"You're making me feel like we're breaking into a bank or something," Sookie whispered to Oliver as she passed.

"My apologies, Mistress."

Sookie and Mina both giggled and walked into the lobby. A party of eight tourists were being checked in at the desk. As the four men occupied themselves with the business of getting as much as they could at check in, the four women were admiring the hotel.

It was more elegant than any of them had expected. They had each been expecting some variation on Gothic style. Basically, they had expected The Oubliette, not the grays and blues of Valhalla. She felt sure The Asgard would be more what they were looking for, garish and over the top.

Sookie suddenly realized she must have been staring. She had captured the attention of one of the women. The woman recognized her as a vampire and was a little frightened yet fascinated. Sookie smiled at the woman and walked toward the group, with Oliver and Mina following behind.

"Welcome to Valhalla," Sookie said brightly when she arrived within a few feet of the guests. "I trust you're finding all of your arrangements in order?"

"Everything's going pretty smooth so far," one of the men said turning only partially around.

"We didn't have a reservation," a tall brunette added without taking her eye off Sookie. This was the first time she'd ever talked to a vampire and she was very excited about it. No way was her husband gonna talk her out of staying here. She didn't care how expensive it was.

Sookie looked at the women behind the desk. One she didn't recognize, she spoke to the one she did, "Terry, haven't the last of our special guests on the sixth floor checked out?"

Terry looked up from her computer screen and immediately stood up straight. "Yes, I believe so. Let me check." She turned back to her computer and typed furiously for a few seconds. "Yes, the sixth floor is available for booking tonight."

"How long were you planning to be with us?" Sookie asked of no one in particular in the group.

"Three or four nights," the brunette woman answered.

"Terry, please book our guests into two adjoining suites on the sixth floor, at the special preferred rate. And make sure they have welcome packages for The Asgard in their rooms."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Terry answered as she pressed a buzzer under the counter to summon a bellboy.

Now all eight of the party turned to stare at Sookie, who smiled sweetly back at them. This was the fun part of being the one in the room whose vote counted most.

"We're very pleased to have you with us. I hope you'll find the accommodations and entertainments to your liking." She started to turn to head over to the shops when she caught something from the red headed woman, so Sookie looked at her. "And Susan, happy anniversary. Terry, include a certificate for the gift shops as well."

Without another word, Sookie turned and walked away, leaving eight shocked tourists gaping at her as she went.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Amid a chorus of gasps, Alcide's hands gripped the edge of his desk as his gaze, along with every other in the room, fixed on the sobbing girl on the floor in front of him.

"Candia," Alcide began softly. "I need you to describe the man for me."

"Can't you see she's distraught!"

"Sanda! Be quiet," Rafe ordered.

"Candia, look at me," Alcide said.

She peered up at him and leaned closer into her mother.

"Candia, this is very important. We need to make certain the man who called himself Jason Stackhouse is indeed who he says he is, and not someone else pretending to be him."

The room fell silent as all in attendance listened to Candia give a perfect description of Jason. She added that she knew he was a Were, but she couldn't tell what kind.

"He's a panther," Alcide said dully.

"You know him?" Candia asked, clearly surprised.

"We've met," Alcide replied. "I know his sister. You may be interested to know she is a friend of the pack."

"What?" Candia's confidence she had outwitted everyone began to fade. She had accused someone connected to a friend of the pack. This was bad. Friends of the pack held an almost sacred status. This would definitely put a strain on some relationships. But it couldn't be helped, she told herself.

It was done now. She knew when she spoke his name that she was sentencing Jason to death and he was a sweet guy, but her babies and their father had to be protected at all costs. Even if it did piss his sister off and cost Alcide a friend.

"Yes. Her friendship and loyalty has been of great service to the pack. And her husband is a very powerful man. The repercussions of this accusation are potentially very far reaching, Candia. Are you certain Jason Stackhouse is the man who attacked you?"

This was it. There was no turning back. "Yes," She said with absolute conviction.

"Very well. Sanda, take her home. Rafe, Aaron, come with me."

When they had left Sanda closed her eyes and hugged her daughter tight.

"What's happening?" Candia asked her mother. "Who is the friend of the pack Alcide was talking about?"

"Shh," Sanda cooed into her daughter's ear and she began to rock gently. She waited until the room had emptied before speaking. "You have accused the brother of the vampire queen of raping you," she whispered.

"Lady Northman?"

"Yes, Sookie Stackhouse of Bon Temps. I'm sure Alcide has gone to try and see her."

"He's going to the vampires? And Daddy went with him? No! We have to stop them."

"Be quiet," Sanda whispered urgently. "I know you lied, Candia. I don't know why, but it's too late to take it back. If you confessed your lie now, you would certainly be abjured by the pack. You should have come to me and let me help you. As it is, we'll have to live with the consequences of what you've done. We will not speak of this again."

"What's going to happen, Mommy?"

"I don't know. If the Queen is on bad terms with her brother, perhaps Alcide will be able to work something out. If not, you may have started a war. Now come on. We need to get home."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~~

Sookie had never taken the time to look through the shops which occupied nearly half the first floor and a small section of the second. Of course most of them were pretty pricey, so she'd have never been able to afford to shop here before she had access to Eric's money.

When she had wandered aimlessly for close to two hours and made an appearance everywhere but the candy store, the ice cream shop and the snack bar, she decided she was ready to take on a bigger challenge.

"Let's go back upstairs," she announced.

"Right away," Oliver responded and moved quickly back toward the lobby and the elevators.

"We don't need to knock anyone over," Sookie called with a laugh.

Oliver stopped and waited for Sookie and Mina to catch up.

When they got upstairs, they didn't go into the penthouse, but to the suite where the donors were being housed. Sookie told Mina to wait, and went straight into the bathroom.

Oliver brought her a middle aged man. She laughed to herself as she wondered if Oliver's choice was intentionally designed to be someone she would not be physically attracted too? His sense of maintaining propriety never ceased to amuse her. Or at least it's amusing now, she thought. I think I used to find it irritating.

"How do you do," the man began.

"No," Sookie said softly. "Please don't speak."

He was too tall for her to comfortably reach his neck and she didn't want him to sit because then she'd have to lean way over and she didn't want to do that. So she took his wrist, felt for the sweet spot and bit.

Without Eric on the other side, it wasn't nearly as much fun feeding like this. In fact, it was almost like work. The veins were so much smaller than the ones in the neck, so you had to suck harder to get less. She leaned back against the sink, closed her eyes and nursed as she was lulled by the sounds of the gently flowing stream.

Within only a few minutes the sounds stopped and Sookie took a few more sucks just for good measure before retracting her fangs. She glanced in the mirror to make sure she wasn't dripping and said, "Thank you," as she strolled out the door.

Once back in the hallway, she announced her desire to go to The Asgard. Mina looked worried and Oliver pleaded with her to change her mind, but she insisted. She wanted to see Eric.

"Uh oh," she said, putting a hand to her stomach as they approached the waiting room for Eric's office. "I think we've upset him."

"Mistress, I beg you," Oliver tried in vain. "Let us return to Valhalla."

"Don't be silly, Oliver, we're here now and nothing terrible has happened. Come on."

When they entered the waiting area, Sookie was very happy to see Alcide and two other Weres waiting to see Eric.

"Alcide!" she called with a huge smile. "How lovely to see you. I knew something was calling me here tonight." She was confused when her smiles were not returned, but before she could ask why, Eric stepped out of his office.

"Sookie, my love, I wasn't expecting you here this evening." Eric glared at Oliver and lifted Sookie's hand to his lips. "What a lovely surprise."

"Don't look at Oliver like he intentionally left the gate open," Sookie scolded. "He objected, but I insisted."

"As I recall, your wife can be very headstrong when she sets her mind to something," Alcide said. "But if she will excuse us, I believe we are next on your petition docket."

Eric's back stiffened and he held tightly to Sookie's hand. "She has only just arrived. Are you suggesting I dismiss her as if she were merely the cleaning woman?"

"Of course not," Alcide replied with a nod. To Sookie, he said, "I apologize if I seem rude. I am distracted by the nature of my business. I need to speak with your husband."

"Dearest, did you come for any special reason?" Eric asked.

"Yes," she answered, smiling up at him. "I missed you."

Eric returned her smile with a stunning grin and addressed Alcide. "What words could you possibly have to say to me which I would want to hear more than these?"

"I sincerely doubt I have any words you would wish to hear. I know I have none I would wish to speak," Alcide said gravely.

Eric and Sookie's now matched the somber mood of their guests. "Come into my office," Eric said. "Oliver, you and Mina wait here."

Eric pulled a chair behind his desk and placed it beside his. He held his hand on the back and motioned for Sookie to sit. He then took his seat and indicated for Alcide to sit across from him.

"What can we do for you Alcide?" Eric asked.

"We have a sixteen year old female who is pregnant and she says it is the result of her being raped."

"Which pet does she accuse? I'll arrange for you to question him."

"It isn't a pet. Sookie, I'm sorry."

"Stop!" Eric demanded. "My Queen is a visitor in this chamber. She is not hearing petitions. Kindly address your remarks to me."

Sookie did not respond. She wondered if she would have been able to keep herself from shouting a dozen questions last week. Jason, what have you done? A sixteen year old girl? You idiot. Sookie squeezed Eric's hand reassuringly.

Alcide continued. "The girl gave his name and a description. It's definitely the Queen's brother."

"My Queen's brother is neither a vampire nor a pet, we have no authority over him. What did you hope to gain here?"

"I had hoped you would ask the Queen –"

"Do not continue that thought. If you thought you could come here and persuade me to interrogate my Queen regarding her brother's alleged conquests, you mistake me for a very different sort of man.

Do you contend this attack took place during a time Jason Stackhouse was visiting here, so we should assume responsibility by extension"

"No, the attack was in Bon Temps."

"And what was this sixteen year old girl doing in Bon Temps unprotected? I was under the impression your females were of greater value to you."

"She was alone!" Rafe injected. "She stopped for gas and her brother raped her!" Rafe pointed his finger at Sookie.

"Rafe!" Alcide growled and Rafe immediately dropped his arm, but his face was red with fury.

Sookie squeezed Eric's hand as hard as she could. When he finally spoke, his voice was even, but low and threatening. "It is time for you to leave my building. Jason is a panther. Your business is with Calvin Norris in Hot Shot. And in future I advise you not to importune me, or my Queen with stories of your whelps you are either unable or unwilling to control."

"They'll kill him," Sookie whispered when they had gone.

"Not tonight," Eric assured her. "If it was just the father, you might have concern, but Alcide is handling this properly. He'll go to Norris and ask the panthers to turn him over. It's too late tonight. He'll go in the morning. Oliver, come in."

Oliver entered the office. "Shall I go and get him?"

"Bring him to the garage of Valhalla. Notify your Mistress when he's here."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Oliver said and he disappeared back through the door.

Eric turned to Sookie. "If there is a chance he is guilty, I won't help you hide him, my love. Oliver will bring him to you and you may do as you please with him.

I won't ask and I won't allow anyone else to ask questions of you. But Sookie, if his guilt can be established, I will expect you to deal with the situation with honor.

Sookie lifted his hand and kissed it. "Thank you."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"And now, Your Majesty, if you will allow me to escort you home. I still have a number of people to see and I'm sure you have calls to make for which you desire privacy." Eric stood and offered Sookie his arm.

Becoming a vampire had not given her the power to resist his charms. If anything, she was even more enamored of him than ever. "Yes, I would like to make some calls." She took his arm and they walked out together.

Mina stood as they came out of the office, as did the ten or so others in the waiting area.

"If you will excuse me, we will resume in twenty minutes," Eric announced. "Mina, join us."

When they stepped into the cool night air, Sookie looked up at Eric. "You know, you could just fly us up to the roof and we could walk down the one flight of stairs to the apartment."

"Shall I?" he asked with a grin.

"No," Sookie replied with a giggle and squeezed his arm. "If we walk, I have you longer."

"You have me always, my love."

Mina looked away and smiled to herself. They were always so intimate with each other. Mina knew Oliver loved her, but she also knew they would never be like this. Oliver was always hyper aware of everyone and everything around him. Of course, she knew Eric never missed anything either, but when Sookie was near him, he was somehow able to push the obviousness of his vigilance aside so all anyone saw was how he interacted with her.

Mina wondered if they even realized how often they made others feel they had accidentally walked into their bedroom and caught them in the act. They were never publicly lewd or indecent in any way. It was the way they looked at one another, the way everything about them changed when one spoke to the other. When Mina looked at them together she always got the feeling they could happily sit, forever, in one spot and simply stare at each other as time faded into nothingness around them.

When they arrived at the penthouse, Mina went inside, leaving Eric and Sookie in the hall.

"How much longer will your business take?"

"An hour, perhaps a bit longer. But I will give you two full hours before I return.

Think of everyone you know and how they can help you. Think of everyone who owes you a favor and everyone who might enjoy being owed a favor by the vampire Queen. Don't concern your self with how favors will be repaid. Your objective is to use the people who can best do what you need done. Whatever markers you incur can always be bought back. You have vast resources at your disposal, but try not to use them on the front end of your deals. If Calvin Norris is unable to produce Jason when Alcide asks, we will fall under suspicion immediately and everything about us will be subject to scrutiny. Alcide's network of people he can call upon is almost as extensive as mine.

Work out what you will say before you make your calls. Have it clear in your head so you don't waste time.

Alcide will call on us again and soon. When he comes he will have questions and he will expect answers. How well you do what you do in the next two hours will determine how well we will be able to give him the answers he is entitled too.

Above all else remember this, I am no longer merely your lover and your mate, I am also your maker and as such you cannot lie to me. So any question I ask of you, privately or before the world, you will be compelled to answer truthfully. Keep that in mind as you make your plans."

"I love you," she said softly.

"And I you," he replied. "Now go inside. I'll not leave you lurking in the hall."

Sookie went inside and he was gone.

She didn't waste any time, she went directly to the bedroom where she could think in quiet. It wouldn't take much longer for Oliver to get to Bon Temps and once he was there, it probably wouldn't take too long to find Jason. Jason was such a creature of habit anyone who had been around him any time at all would have little difficulty locating him most nights.

She took stock of her options, but it was a very short list. In fact, there was only one name on the list. She only knew of one person in Bon Temps who would have any chance against Oliver in the find Jason sweepstakes. She got her cell phone off its charger and called Bill.

"Hi, Bill. It's Sookie. – wait, please, I don't have much time, -- No, Eric didn't do anything to me. What do you – Oh, well, yeah, he did that, but I asked him too. And Bill, I don't have time to talk about that right now. I need a favor. – Please don't call me that, not now. This isn't an official request. It's just me asking a favor of a friend – I need you to find Jason. Right now. Oliver is on his way there to find him and I need you to find him first. Get him out of Bon Temps as soon as possible, don't let him bring anything. I'll call you back to tell you where to take him. Just find him, Bill, please and don't let Oliver find him and Bill, you'll need to travel some way the Were trackers won't be able to follow. – Yes, I know it's a lot to ask, but I'm asking just the same. You know I wouldn't if I had anyone else to turn to right now. – Thank you. I'll call you back in a few minutes."

She flipped her phone closed and leaned back on the bed. She felt like she should be panting. She sucked in some air but it felt so strange she pushed it out right away. The sound it made as it traveled in and out of her was deafening. She remembered how Bill used to pretend to breath when they were together to make her more comfortable. How dreadful that must have been for him.

Not now Sookie. You don't have time to get maudlin over your past right now. Focus. What all do you need and who could do it?

She could feel the minutes ticking away as she sat there on the edge of the bed. She got up and opened the drapes. This was her favorite thing about the penthouse. Their bedroom had the best view in Shreveport. And it was lovely in the evening.

Something in her mind clicked. "Of course!" she said aloud and grabbed her purse off her bedside table and dug two business cards from it. She went back to the bed and made a call.

"David, this is Sookie Northman. Are you where you can talk freely? – Good, I need a favor from you, I need it right away and I need no questions. – No, there are no dead bodies involved. Only one body and he is very much alive. And before you ask, no, he isn't involved in anyone else's body being dead. –

Two men will come to you, a vampire and a human. The human will not know why he's there, because the vampire does not know why. Even though he will no doubt think he is a prisoner and being held against his will, you must trust me when I tell you, we are protecting him. He is in no danger from us.

One vampire will bring him and stay with him until another vampire comes to pick him up. When the second vampire arrives to retrieve him, the first will leave. That is all. – Yes, tonight, within the hour. – I will consider it a great personal service and you will be well rewarded for it. – That is generous of you, but I will insist you be paid for your help. We can discuss what you want at a later time. – Thank you, David. I can't begin to express what this means to me. Now tell me your address. – No, I don't want to use the clinic if at all possible. – Oh, wait. Do you have the supplies on hand to draw a blood sample at home? – Outstanding. Take a sample from him before he is picked up. The vampire will hold him if he resists. – Your address. -- Thank you again. I have to go right now. We will talk again soon."

Sookie stared at the remaining card in her hand. The first two calls were easy compared to this. Here she would be asking the most and she would have the least to offer in exchange. She punched the numbers into her phone.

"You answer your own phone, how charming." Sookie laughed at his response. "Paradise is just fine, thank you. My trouble has a very different cause."

Sookie went through a summary of what was happening and the plans she already had in motion.

"Jason has women lined up three deep in all directions and he's never been violent. If I could meet with him I could see if he was telling the truth, but – Yes, that's what I thought. I didn't want to risk it. I need to know as little as possible since I can't lie to Eric and there's no telling what he might have to ask me in front of others. – Is that what you call it? It's so common it has a name. That's almost funny. – That's it? You'll do it? Don't you have more questions? – 2020 Orchard Lane – I'm in your debt. – Please take good care of him."

There was a click in her ear and she was left holding her phone. She had just made arrangements to send her brother into exile for who knew how long. It took that a minute to sink in before she called Bill again.

"Already? That's great, but don't tell me any more. Have him tell you anything he can about a 16 year old werewolf girl named Candia Gray. She's pregnant and she claims he's the father. – It's not just that Bill, she says he raped her. – Yes, I know it's ridiculous, but that's what she's saying and in the morning Alcide will go to Calvin Norris and I have no idea what will happen, but I need to know Jason is safe. – Take him to 2020 Orchard Lane, here in Shreveport. There will be a man there named David. Tell Jason not to speak to the man. The man will take a blood sample from him and then I need you both to wait there, silently. A vampire will come there to take Jason from you, I'm not sure how long it will be. It could be a few hours. I don't know who it will be, but they will not be from here and it will very likely be someone you don't know either. Turn Jason over and then all of you leave. – I can't thank you enough, Bill. You've rescued me again. – You're wrong. It matters very much. Just not in the way you want it too."

Her head was spinning. As she sat there trying to keep from getting dizzy, she was almost ashamed to confess to herself she was feeling exhilarated as much as, no, maybe even more than frightened. She had never liked playing cat and mouse, but somehow it seemed very exciting at the moment. She got up and left the bedroom, carrying her cell phone with her, just in case.

The moment she stepped out of the bedroom it hit her. The stream was swollen and rushing. She looked at the clock over the end of the bar. Less than half an hour before Eric would be back. How long had it been? Almost three hours. Not quite, but almost. Of course if she'd been out here and not by herself in a reinforced, airtight room she would have felt it sooner.

"Ausra, come with me," she ordered and headed toward the door.

"Mistress, Oliver has called –"

"Not now, Mina," Sookie said and hurried through the door with Ausra close behind her.

She crossed the hall to the donor suite and went right in, startling the four women watching a movie.

"You," Sookie said, pointing to a young woman sitting alone on a love seat.

The woman started to get up, but Sookie was seated next to her in an instant. "Just watch the movie," Sookie said quietly as she lifted the woman's wrist.

As she bit, all she could think about was how much she would rather be at the woman's neck. The call was almost overpowering. Sookie closed her eyes and sucked. Once, the urge to move to the neck overcame her and she withdrew her fangs.

She fought hard and managed to force herself to bite the wrist again. Just a minute more, she chanted in her mind. A little more and it will recede. Then I can relax.

Soon the edge began to soften. She could still hear it, but not so desperate. The woman's pulse had not slowed, but Sookie knew she wasn't near finished. She retracted her fangs and released the woman's arm. "Thank you. Trade places with her please." Sookie pointed to the woman at the nearest end of the couch.

"Yes, Your Majesty," the woman said.

"Do not speak to the Queen," Ausra ordered.

The two women traded places and Sookie closed her eyes again as she fed from the second and they continued watching the movie like nothing unusual was happening.

This one tasted wonderful. Her blood was almost hypnotic. Even when she felt full and the rushing water had long since receded into a tranquil pond, Sookie didn't stop. She didn't notice the time passing until suddenly she felt the slowing. She retracted her fangs and gave the small wounds a quick lick so the woman would lose no more blood. She didn't want to waste any from this one.

As Sookie sat upright, her hand went to her stomach and she smiled. She stood and looked down at the woman. "What's your name?"

"Karen Henderson."

Sookie smiled at her and headed to the door. When Ausra opened the door, Sookie almost ran straight into Eric.

"And what are you running away from so quickly?" he asked through that devastating grin.

"Not from, to."

"And dare I flatter myself by thinking you have found what you sought?" How his eyes danced when he was toying with her and digging for compliments.

"I long for nothing else, my lord."

"Nothing else?" He raised an eyebrow and stared at her in disbelief.

"Nothing you don't carry with you."

He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. "And now I carry all I long for as well. Are you finished here? Shall we go home?"

"I'm finished," she said softly as she curled around him and laid her head on his shoulder.

Eric walked straight through the living area barely even acknowledging anyone else. When they got into the bedroom he put Sookie down beside the bed and pulled off his shirt. "So is there anything you'd like to tell me about?"

"Oh yes! Have you fed from that girl, Karen Henderson across the hall? She tastes like heaven. Do you think we could keep her?"

Eric burst out laughing as he tossed aside his shoes and socks. "Amidst everything happening tonight, the most important thing you have to share with me is a tasty delicacy you happened across?"

"I don't see how you can expect me to concentrate on anything important with you stripping in front of me. And I haven't shared her with you, I've only told you about her. Oh, I would love to share her. But I fed until her pulse slowed, so she probably won't be ready again for a while. How long does it usually take before they can donate again?"

"About two weeks," he answered and when he saw the disappointment on Sookie's face, he added, "But if you find her so succulent, we can have her transfused, then it will be only two days or so until the transfusion is fully absorbed and integrated into her enough for it to no longer effect her taste." He unzipped and removed her dress.

"Yes! Let's do that. That would be very nice," She smiled at him as if he'd just handed her the keys to Harry Winston's vault.

"As you wish, my love. Now tell me where you've hidden Jason."

Sookie looked confused for a moment, as if maybe the sudden change of topic had thrown her off balance. "I don't know," she replied.

Not the answer he expected. This was a serious matter and in his experience the unexpected was rarely a welcome or useful factor in resolving serious matters. Perhaps Sookie's gift was the ability to lie to her maker? Eric had never considered that possibility and though it might be helpful in this particular situation, he didn't like it. Sookie stared at him as if she was grasping for something, but she wasn't sure exactly what.

"That's not really right," she said, much to Eric's relief. "I mean, I could tell you where he probably is right now, but I'm not sure he's still there and if he is, he won't be for much longer." She slipped her sandals off.

"I see. And when he leaves this place where he may or may not be right now, where will he go?"

"Eric, why are you asking me these questions? I thought you didn't want to know?"

"Answer the question, Sookie. Where will he go?"

"I don't know."

"What?"

"I don't know where he's going." Her eyes were beginning to swell. She was going to cry. "I had him taken and someone else is going to take him someplace and I don't know who will have him or where they will take him. Oh, Eric! I've sent him away and I can't even check on him. What if there's an accident? I wouldn't even know." The floodgates opened and her face was quickly streaked with blood as she sobbed.

Eric scooped her up and carried her to the bathroom. He sat on the edge of the tub and cradled her in one arm as he turned on the water to run a warm bath.

"Shhh," he hummed to her. "You did brilliantly, Dearest. I couldn't be more proud of you."

She looked up at him and sniffed. "You have pl, umm, plausible something."

"Plausible deniability," he prompted.

"Yeah, that. Because you can tell them you don't know where he is and I don't either. And if they don't believe me, you can ask me in front of them and I won't know and they'll believe me because they'll know I can't lie to you."

"Precisely, my love. You have done everything in your considerable power to see to your brother's safety. He could not ask for more loyalty than you have shown him. I have complete confidence you have placed him in hands capable of keeping him safe from accidents."

"Do you really think so?"

"I do. May I join you in the bath? Or would you prefer to bathe alone?

"I can't reach my back and we don't have a brush."

"A tragic oversight. Then I shall be compelled to accompany you in the interest of maintaining your personal hygiene."

Sookie giggled and wiped at her cheek. All she did was smear the blood around and when she saw her hand she was so surprised she almost jumped out of his lap. "Oh my god. I hadn't even thought about that."

"It is of little matter. Here, this is a lovely bra. Let's see how it looks in the corner. Hmm, it looks lonely, stand up."

She laughed out loud and stood and stepped out of her panties when they reached the floor. "You're all about the stripping tonight."

"How else am I to access this back of yours which is in such need of cleaning? Focus, my love, focus." The panties joined the bra in the corner. "Much better."

She leaned in to whisper in his ear as she slowly dragged her knee between his legs. "I see you're ready to focus," she giggled.

"Indeed, I am more than prepared for the task at hand." He took her face in his hands and kissed her.

When he moved to her neck, she murmured, "I thought the task at hand was my personal hygiene?"

"Multitasking, my love."

"Mmmm, and you're very good at it too."

"It's all in the wrist," he said with a grin as he stood.

Sookie unfastened his pants gave them a little push so they fell to the floor. "That doesn't look like your wrist."

"Perhaps I was mistaken." He grabbed her up and plopped into the tub, bringing her down with him and causing water to splash everywhere.

Sookie screamed then laughed as she settled into a comfy position on top of him. How he loved to play. Sometimes it seemed so absurd to think he was over a thousand years old, he was so like a little boy.

"I hope we have flood insurance," she giggled.

"The water was in the way," he said and pulled her down for a kiss.

She melted into him and met his hunger with an appetite every bit its equal. No unhappy thought or worry would dare encroach upon the safety of his embrace. Nothing existed beyond the space they occupied.

Never leaving her mouth, he lifted her with one hand and guided her onto him with the other.

His lips parted from hers just in time for her long moan. She would never get enough of the sensation of him entering her, of his flesh demanding hers give way to him, not in a thousand years, not in ten thousand.

The way he filled her was like nothing else as she rose and fell against him. Their moans and cries mingled with the sound of the water remaining in the tub splashing against the sides and lapping at their skin.

Suddenly Eric grabbed her back to keep her in place and leaned forward. He reached behind her and turned the water back on. He gave a loud groan as he threw his head back and thrust hard into her. He was spectacular. In that moment, he reminded her of a palomino stallion rearing his head in a fearsome display of his power.

The sight stirred something base and carnal in her. She took his face in both hands and kissed him violently. She felt his passions enflame both his kiss and their bond.

He kicked the tap to turn the water off and slapped the switch for the jets. The air, heavily laden with steam hung thick around them, as their bodies writhed in the seething torrents of water, which seemed to be boiling with their desire.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

The morning sky was still streaked with brilliant shades of orange and pink when Alcide pulled his truck to a stop in front of Calvin Norris' house in Hot Shot. As Alcide cut the engine, Rafe reached for his door handle.

"No," Alcide said calmly. "We won't get out here. The panthers are very leery of visitors. Norris will come out. We'll wait."

They didn't have to wait long. Someone, it appeared to be a young girl, was peering out, from behind a curtain as Calvin walked out to his unexpected company. "Mornin', Alcide," Calvin said. "And your friend."

"I'll get right to the point, Calvin. We're looking for Jason Stackhouse. Do you know where we can find him? Has he moved out here or is he still living in town?"

Calvin's eyes shifted between Alcide and his passenger. "Maybe you'll want to back off that point a might and introduce me to your friend here."

"Of course," Alcide replied. "This is Rafe Gray. We're trying to get to the bottom of a problem between his daughter and Jason."

"Like the problem people thought there was between Jason and my daughter?"

"Rafe's daughter is pregnant. She says Jason is the father."

"Nothing will come of that. I've never heard of breeding cats and dogs ending in a live birth. But I expect you already knew that. So since you're not delivering shower invitations, why don't you go on and tell me what brings you and Rafe Gray to my house at dawn?"

"He raped her," Rafe blurted, as he stared at Calvin.

"Jason Stackhouse?" Calvin asked. "The Jason Stackhouse who has women from five counties around Bon Temps lined up to have a go in his bed? Why would he rape anybody? Hell, when would he be alone long enough to rape anybody?"

"She described him, Calvin," Alcide answered solemnly. "And she knew his name."

"Every woman in the area knows his name and can describe him, most of them intimately."

"She's sixteen and she lives in Shreveport. Do you hear about many Shreveport teenagers coming to Bon Temps on a regular basis? Regular enough to get to know the locals by their reputations?

She was angry with her parents. She got in the car and just drove down the highway. She says the car ran low of gas and she stopped."

Calvin took a moment to consider the information he'd been given. "She says Jason Stackhouse took advantage of her at a gas station? The boy may not be the brightest bulb in the fixture, but even if he did decide to become a rapist, I can't see him doin' it at a gas station."

"She says she met him at the station. She didn't say where the actual attack took place."

"So you came all the way out here with nothing but the accusation of a sixteen year old pregnant girl?"

Rafe was reaching for the door again. "Are you saying my Candia is a liar?"

Alcide put an arm across Rafe's chest. "Don't Rafe."

Calvin looked at Rafe and spoke with no discernable emotion at all. "That's good advice our friend Alcide's giving you. I didn't say anything against your daughter. I've got daughters of my own. And if one of my girls came to me and told me what your girl told you, I'd believe her and I'd want somebody to answer for what they did.

But Alcide, if I came to you and accused a member of your pack, with no more than what you've told me, how likely is it you'd turn him over to me?"

Alcide held Calvin's gaze, but he couldn't answer.

After waiting a few seconds, Calvin continued. "I didn't think so. Now I'm sure part of the reason you wouldn't turn him over would be the prejudice of believing wolves are better than panthers. But that wouldn't be the whole reason. A good bit would be that you wouldn't be willing to turn over one of yours without some hard evidence."

"Will you arrange for us to talk to him?"

"I don't see what good that would do, unless you expect that he'd confess. Have you talked to Sookie? She'd know if he was lying. She might not tell you, but she'd know."

"That vampire bitch?" Rafe growled.

Calvin fixed his stare on Rafe. "Alcide, I think you better take your friend on away from here. I'm real sorry for his troubles but he's outlasted his welcome in Hot Shot. You come on back without him when you have more information and I'll help you all I can.

If I see Jason, I'll ask him about this girl. I'll look in his eyes, see his reaction."

"Thank you, Calvin."

"We're leaving?" Rafe yelled. "With nothing?"

Alcide rolled up his window and started the truck. "For now. We have nothing to negotiate with."

At Rafe's insistence, they spent nearly two hours driving through Bon Temps and stopping at nearly every business to look around for Jason. They drove up and down residential streets and onto small dirt or gravel roads. Alcide had seen Jason's truck before, so he knew to look for the custom flames.

Alcide decided they would head back to Bon Temps after checking out this unmarked driveway they had just come upon. His plan was changed when they found Jason's truck at the other end.

Alcide looked around. He had never been here before, but he knew it was next to a lake and there was a pier you could see from the house. He cut the engine and they both got out. As they neared the house, the corner of a pier came into view.

Rafe took the three porch steps in one leap and banged on the front door. There was no response. Rafe banged again as Alcide walked around the house looking in windows.

"Doesn't look like anyone's home," Alcide said when he arrived back at the front porch. His eye kept returning to Jason's truck. "Let's check inside."

With no more encouragement than that, Rafe kicked in the front door.

They found Jason's keys on the coffee table. "House key's on here too," Rafe said before stepping into the hall. With every nerve on edge, he walked down the hall looking into each room as he went.

A messy bathroom, which might have last been used last week or an hour ago, a sparsely furnished guest room with a made bed, and at the far end of the hall, what must be Jason's bedroom. It wasn't a total disaster, but Jason's supposed harem apparently didn't include a housekeeper. The bed was unmade and there were some clothes strewn around the room, but Rafe saw nothing to indicate how long ago the owner might have been here.

"Rafe," Alcide called from the kitchen.

When Rafe got back to the living room Alcide was already at the door. "Grab a couple pieces of his clothes, then we need to leave," Alcide said. "His wallet is on the kitchen counter. He's either someplace right around here, close, or he was taken."

Rafe went back to the bedroom to get some of Jason's clothes off the floor. Alcide went into the front yard and flipped open his phone. "Tell Aaron to put a tracking team together and come to Bon Temps right away. He can call me for directions to where we are once they're on the road. – And get me on Eric's docket tonight. – As early as possible, and ask if Sookie can be there too. – I know, but we can ask. – Thank you."

"That bitch did this," Rafe roared as he exited the house.

"I doubt it," Alcide responded evenly. "He's her brother, so she might have sent someone for him, but she wouldn't have needed to have him kidnapped. And Rafe, she still has friend of the pack status. So unless she is proven to have betrayed us, please keep your opinions to yourself. If she knows where he is, we'll find out tonight. If she comes to the meeting, she'll tell the truth. She probably won't hand him over, but we'll get access to question him.

Before we jump to any more conclusions, give me a piece of that and let's make sure he's not laying around here. Aaron and a team should be here within the hour."

Rafe raised his nose in the air. "There's nothing dead, close enough and large enough to be a man."

Rafe tossed Alcide a shirt and they started walking in opposite directions, in widening circles around the house.

Alcide and Rafe had covered an area well into the woods by the time Aaron got there an hour later. As Alcide and Rafe came into the yard,

Sheriff Bud Dearborne's patrol car rolled up the drive.

Bud rolled down his window and took in the six large men standing in the yard. "Jason having a fishing party?"

"Jason isn't here. We're looking for him," Alcide answered.

"All six of you?" Bud asked.

Alcide stepped toward the car. "I'm Alcide Herveaux. My friend Rafe and I came to visit Jason this morning. When we found his truck but not him, we got worried and called for help to look for him."

"But you didn't think to call the Sheriff's office? Last time I checked, looking for missing persons was part of my job description."

Alcide chuckled and said, "You know Jason. We didn't want to get him in any trouble if he was hunkered down somewhere, passing time with some pretty company."

"Uh-huh, well I'm sure you fellas won't mind if I have a look around for myself, will you?"

Alcide reached and opened Sheriff Dearborn's car door. "Of course not."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 **

What Alcide had intended to be a short trip to Hot Shot had morphed into a production which took up a large part of the day. Bud Dearborne had quickly become convinced Jason had indeed been kidnapped and the endless interviews and paperwork that triggered was maddening. The human penchant for taking something perfectly simple and turning it into a bloated bureaucracy in a matter of minutes, was stunning.

Despite what he considered a major waste of time, Alcide learned several things; the local authorities, Jason's boss and his best friend were all surprised Jason was missing; Rafe was too hot-headed to be involved in the search any further, he would have to be sent home before he caused more damage than Alcide could cover for; and whoever took Jason knew what they were doing, the tracking team picked up his scent all over town, but it was a broken line, the scent never lasted more than ten feet, then it would just disappear.

The ride back to Shreveport seemed to take forever. Keeping Rafe contained was not going to be easy.

The longer the conversation went on, the harder it was for Alcide to maintain his even tone. Rafe had no intention of seeing reason. Alcide drew in a deep breath and continued as calmly as he could. "For reasons that are a mystery to everybody but him, Eric has always wanted to maintain a working relationship with the pack. Because of that, we've enjoyed what few other packs have, relative peace in our area and no vampire problems. I understand your anger and frustration, but I can't allow them to jeopardize what we have."

"How could you understand?" Rafe barked. "You have no children. Or at least none you have a hand in raising."

"If you strike out like that at Eric, or his mate, he'll kill you right there. Make no mistake, Rafe, if you force that confrontation you will lose."

"It's my right to be there if he lets you question her," Rafe countered , with what he believed to be his strongest argument.

Alcide sighed heavily and trudged on. "It isn't a matter of rights. It's a matter of effectiveness.

Sookie is a telepath, Rafe. She has trouble with supernaturals, or she used to anyway, she may be better at it now. But the point is, she has the advantage if we question her. Chances are she'd know what we intended to ask before we asked it, so she'd have time to work out an answer before we even had the question out.

Our best bet is to get Eric to question her. He turned her, so she can't lie to him. It's one of those screwy vampire things, like having to be invited into your house. So if we can get him to agree to ask her if she knows where Jason is, then we'll know if she's telling the truth or not."

"He'll never agree to that. He'll protect her."

"Of course he'll protect her, but not if she doesn't need protecting. We don't know that she has Jason. I'm going to see them tonight and I'm taking Aaron, but you will have to stay home. There's too much at stake here. We can't storm in making demands. Eric is very old school. He insists proper protocols be observed. He won't give an inch if you violate his sense of propriety. But if you're polite and maintain an air of formal decorum, he can be more than reasonable and very accommodating."

Rafe saw he wasn't going to win this round. He gave up his argument and spent the remaining few minutes of the trip staring out the window.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Sookie got dressed and slipped out of the bedroom while Eric was still in the shower. She smiled at everyone, said a quick "good evening" and motioned for Oliver to come with her across the hall.

There were at least a dozen donors in the main area of the two bedroom suite. There was a small alcove on the far side of the kitchen, which would normally serve as a breakfast nook. "Take someone in there," Sookie instructed Oliver, pointing to the nook.

Sookie took a step toward the nook then noticed Karen Henderson in a chair near the windows. Sookie went to her.

"You look peaked. Did you take any B vitamins or iron tablets today?"

She was younger than Sookie, maybe twenty-two, with flawless olive skin. She wore her dark brown hair in a braid reaching at least to her lower back and had large brown eyes and a very pleasant smile.

"Yes, thank you, Your Majesty," Karen answered timidly. She glanced in Oliver's direction expecting to be scolded for speaking to the queen. She kept her eyes cast downward.

Sookie placed a hand on the woman's shoulder in an effort to be comforting. The action only served to make her remember how Karen tasted and the calling became a scream.

Sookie withdrew her hand and said, "I took too much from you. I'll send Mina for you in the morning to take you for a transfusion. We must keep you healthy. You're very valuable." Sookie smiled and went to the nook to feed from the donor Oliver had there.

Once back in the hall, Oliver said, "Mistress, if I may speak before we go back in."

"Of course, Oliver. What is it?"

"I feel I must apologize to you personally for failing to find your brother. I stand ready for your judgment."

"There's nothing to judge, Oliver. You tried, but you couldn't find him. Sometimes people don't want to be found. I'm sure you did your best."

Eric was waiting by the bar, reading through his messages, when Sookie came back in the apartment. He closed his phone, smiled and extended a hand to her. "Good evening, my love. You are looking particularly rosy."

"And you look good enough to eat, as usual."

"Tempting. We may put that to a test later," he said with a radiant grin. "In the mean time, Alcide has requested you join me for our meeting shortly. You are under no obligation, but if you choose to accompany me, I'll wait for you to make a call first. The human Sheriff from Bon Temps called before sundown and left a message for you to return his call. Probably to tell you Jason is missing."

Eric followed Sookie to the bedroom and gave her the number. Sheriff Dearborne told her Jason was missing and gave her a rundown of his encounter with Alcide earlier and his as yet unsuccessful search. Sookie responded with appropriate surprise and concern, but not too much worry, "You know Jason. He might be curled up in some woman's house, right now, taking a vacation from work." He promised to keep Sookie informed and she thanked him. That was that.

"Any chance he'll be able to find Jason?" Eric asked.

"None."

"Very good. Now, do you care to join me to see Alcide?"

"Isn't it better if I do? Won't it look like I'm hiding something if I don't go and let him ask his questions?"

"Yes. It is better for everyone if you come with me, but I will not force you to go. We are playing a delicately balanced game with Alcide and he is not a fool. Please do not answer his questions directly. I will rephrase his questions and you will answer me. I must control the questions so you are not asked anything in such a way you reveal more than you wish too."

"Wait for you to ask the questions. Got it."

"Very well. Shall we?"

On the way out, Sookie stopped to talk to Mina.

"Tomorrow I'd like for you to take Karen Henderson and go to the blood bank. Talk to David, have him transfuse Karen and tell him I would like to place an order for one hundred Taste of Louisiana gift boxes per month for the next six months. They went over very well and I'd like to keep using them for our vampire guests at Valhalla and perhaps have them available for Eric's business associates as well."

"Yes Mistress, and Shana, the hairdresser will be here later this evening to meet with you."

"Good. If she gets here before I get back just have her wait. I shouldn't be gone too long."

Eric and Sookie left with Oliver and Ausra in tow so Sookie wasn't left alone after the meeting.

Alcide and Aaron were already waiting when they arrived. Sookie looked directly at Alcide, then averted her eyes and clutched Eric's arm allowing him to lead her into his office.

Alcide noted a very slight tremor in her as they passed. Guilty nerves, he thought at first. But that made no sense. If he could see the shiver, surely Eric could feel it with her holding him so tightly and there's no way Eric would have brought her with him if she had anything to hide.

Had she told Eric she had nothing to do with Jason before being asked and now she was naive enough to believe she could withstand being questioned? Or did she actually not know anything?

The four of them walked calmly into Eric's office with Eric exuding confidence of Sookie's innocence, Aaron convinced of her guilt, Sookie an enigma and Alcide utterly confused.

Sookie had set the stage perfectly.

Inside, Eric seated Sookie next to him and took his seat, resting his elbows on the arms of his large leather chair. He placed a comforting hand on Sookies arm and she immediately seized it as she sat casting jittery glares at Alcide.

"I believe we all know why we're here," Alcide began. "We need to speak to Jason. Will you tell us where he is, Sookie? Or at least –"

Eric's face lost all semblance of good humor and he started to rise, but Sookie threw an arm in front of him and jumped to her feet, sending her chair back to the wall behind her.

"I'm a telepath Alcide! I don't read tea leaves or see the future! You know that. And as for Jason, I talked to Sheriff Dearborne just before coming here. Sounds to me like you're probably in a better position to say where Jason is." Sookie was shaking with outrage and a single red tear was welled at the corner of her eye, threatening to roll down her face.

Alcide was completely taken aback by her unexpected outburst. "Sookie, please –"

Eric couldn't have been more proud, but he didn't show it. If Sookie wanted to be ringmaster of this little circus, he would happily take on a supporting role.

"Cease this at once!" Eric roared, coming to his feet and putting a protective arm around Sookie. He turned to her, lowered his voice and said, "Dearest, please, sit." He reached back and pulled her chair back next to his and opened a desk drawer to remove a box of tissue. He placed the box on the desk and handed Sookie a tissue before gently guiding her back into her chair as she began sobbing into the tissue.

"Eric, I –" Alcide stammered.

"No!" Eric said with an icy stare as he retook his seat. "Because we hold similar positions in our respective communities and due to my long business relationship with your father, our relationship and manner of address with one another has always been of a somewhat informal nature. But Mr. Herveaux, I insist you address my Queen with the respect due her position.

Despite her concern for her brother, she freely took valuable time from beginning her search to come to this meeting. Since you requested she be here, and considering her conversation with Sheriff Dearborne, naturally we assumed you either had news you had chosen not to share with the Sheriff or were coming to offer your assistance in finding him."

"She really doesn't know where he is," Alcide stated more than asked.

"We have stated as much, but let us put this question and your suspicions behind us so we may continue in a more productive manner." He looked over at Sookie. "Dearest, look at me please."

She raised her head and gave Alcide a hurt glance before looking at Eric.

"Where is your brother Jason, my love?"

Her eyes filled with tears again. "I don't know," she cried and snatched another tissue from the box on the desk.

"Do you know who he is with?"

"No."

"Are you hiding him?"

"No!" she wailed, burying her face in the bloodstained tissue.

"That's enough, Eric," Alcide said.

"Is it? Is this not the true nature of your visit? To convince me to wield the lash against the woman I treasure above all things as you watch?" Eric reached over and gently lifted Sookie's chin. "Only one more, my treasure. Do you want to find Jason?"

"Yes. Oh, yes."

Eric glared at Alcide. "Do you or your companion have any further inquiries or petty torments for us to endure? Or may we presume my Queen has suffered to your satisfaction?"

"Please accept our apologies, Your Majesty," Alcide said to Sookie with a nod of his head. "As a friend of the pack I would never wish to see you in pain and I am truly sorry for having seen it today. I take full responsibility for my actions, which were taken with the interest of my pack in mind."

Sookie looked up at him and wiped her eyes, managing to get all but a couple of small blood smears. "I know you didn't do it on purpose, Alcide. I'm sorry you felt you had to test my honesty. I want to find him more than you do. We can help each other."

Alcide looked to Eric. "Can we count on your cooperation?"

"Fully," Eric replied. "All of our resources are at your disposal. Personnel for joint teams, whatever will work best. Oliver, our head of security, will coordinate with you.

We have two conditions."

"And they are?" Alcide asked.

"When Jason is found, if you find him first, he is not to be harmed and you must bring him here for questioning in Sookie's presence.

And the girl's father must not participate in the hunt. I understand it is his right, but I cannot in good conscience offer my support to an endeavor involving a man whose participation will potentially endanger someone so dear to my Queen's heart."

"Fair enough," Alcide conceded. "And in return, if you find him first, I would also ask he not be harmed and that he be brought before our council for questioning in my presence."

"Agreed," Eric said. "Oliver."

Oliver came in and stood next to Eric's desk. "Oliver, go with Alcide to coordinate the search for Jason Stackhouse. You will be our point man. Use whatever manpower and resources you feel are necessary. Spare no expense."

Oliver looked to Sookie. "Your Majesty?"

"For me," she answered him.

Oliver bowed to them both and left the room. Alcide and Aaron were close behind him.

"Where will they go?" Sookie asked when they were gone.

"Back to their council chamber, I imagine," Eric replied. "Now, my love, I believe you have an appointment with your hairdresser and I have much to do." He kissed her hand and she stood.

"Don't forget to come home."

"You may safely remove that from your list of worries," he said with a charming smirk.

Sookie and Ausra took a little detour and walked through the casino before heading back to the penthouse.

"I miss the crowds," Sookie said as they entered.

A waiter recognized her and stopped to bow. "Hail the goddess of Asgard," he announced.

This started a chain reaction of stares, bows and whispers. As Sookie's mind was assaulted by the sudden rush of thoughts directed at her, she smiled pleasantly and nodded to her admirers.

Ausra stiffened and stepped closer.

"We're in no danger here," Sookie assured her.

They began a slow, winding walk around the casino floor. They stopped occasionally to watch the games or oblige autograph and photo seeking tourists.

Had she received even a tiny fraction of this love before, she was certain she would never have been tempted into a relationship with Bill. She would never have willingly become involved with vampires. She would still be human. She thought wistfully about that for only a second before it also occurred to her she might never have met Eric.

No, that was not a desirable or even tolerable alternative. The huge space Eric filled in her could never have been adequately occupied by anyone else. She would have lived out her short human lifespan never knowing what it was to be truly whole.

Sookie was all smiles as she and Ausra left The Asgard and headed home.

"And I don't know why everyone tiptoes around Karen like she was a vampire now," Sookie heard a woman say as they approached the penthouse door. The voice came from the donor suite.

"Why tiptoeing? Is she taking another nap?" a male voice asked.

"I don't know if she's napping, but she's in the bedroom. I guess she's too good to be around the rest of us since the Queen actually talked to her," the woman snapped.

Sookie opened the donor suite door and stepped inside. All conversation stopped, but it was clear the two Sookie had overheard were a man and woman standing near the bar.

"Ausra, go to the bedroom and get Karen. Have her gather her things and bring them."

"But Your Majesty, Karen is too weak –" the woman began.

Sookie gave her a cold stare. "I don't remember asking for your medical opinion."

The woman's eyes got wide and the man she had been talking too backed away. The woman didn't speak.

"Perhaps I talked to Karen because she responded when I spoke to her, but not before." Still nothing from the woman. Sookie noticed several trays set up on the bar, behind the woman and walked over to examine them more closely.

"Turn and look here," Sookie said softly. "What do you see?"

The woman turned and looked at the bar. Trays holding cheeses, cold cuts, crackers and cookies lined the bar. "Snacks?"

"Exactly," Sookie said, smiling her approval of the woman's answer. "A varied assortment of snacks all kept in one place on this bar. And which is your favorite?"

The woman hesitated for a moment, then stammered, "The brownies are very good, Your Majesty."

"I used to like brownies very much," Sookie said. "Now imagine how disturbing it would be if you were forced to listen as the Swiss cheese cubes whined and complained about your preference for the brownies. The brownies can't help being what they are. They don't smile and preen and hope you'll choose them when you're hungry and come to the bar.

I never liked Swiss cheese. Get your things together and leave."

Sookie glanced around the room. She had everyone's undivided attention. Might as well take advantage of that. "None of you are being held against your will. This door is not locked from the out side, you will not be stopped in the lobby and no one will track you down or even have a second thought about you if you leave. Believe me when I tell you, if you don't want to be here, then I don't want you here, leave."

Sookie looked over at the young man the woman had been talking too. "You, unless you're leaving, come and sit with me while I wait for Ausra."

The man came and sat on a barstool on the kitchen side of the bar. Sookie wasn't hearing the call yet, but she took a light snack from him as she waited. She figured the visual would help make an impression on the four other donors in the room.

When Ausra and Karen came out of the bedroom, Ausra was pulling a small suitcase behind her. Sookie joined them and they went across the hall.

"Mina," Sookie said upon entering. "This is Karen. Find her a room please. She'll be staying with us at least until you take her to see David tomorrow.

Karen, please go with Mina. When you've put your things away, you may take a nap, or you're welcome to come out and watch TV or read or whatever you like. Feel free to take advantage of any of our amusements and of course you may have anything in the kitchen."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Karen said with a smile as she looked around the huge living area.

Mina reached down and took the suitcase handle from Ausra. "Welcome to court, Karen. Please come with me. I'll show you to your room."

"Mistress?" Genevieve said haltingly form the kitchen.

Sookie looked over the bar at her. "What is it, Genevieve?"

"I was just wondering if you would need me tonight? I have kind of an iffy date."

"What is an 'iffy' date?"

"If I can get away," she laughed.

"Of course. Do you need a car or someone to drive you?"

"No thank you. He's coming to pick me up. He was just going to visit if I couldn't leave."

"Have a good time then." Sookie smiled and went to the dining table where she saw Shana sitting quietly.

"Why so quiet over here. You're welcome to do anything you like here."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Being here is still kind of surreal to me," Shana said, peering up at Sookie.

"That's understandable. It takes a while before it seems normal. But it will seem normal. One day you'll wake up and the fact there are vampires around you won't seem odd at all."

"I'll really get to live here? I mean this will be my official address?"

"Yes. We are offering you a place in our home. We will provide for your complete support and give you an allowance. In exchange you will make yourself available to me in the evenings. You will be primarily responsible for me personally. My hair and make up, helping coordinate my wardrobe, things like that. Occasionally you may be asked to provide similar services to a guest, and of course if I travel I'll want you to come with me."

"And would I be a donor for you and the King as well?"

"Mina tells me you want to become a pet. If you were a pet rather than an employee, then it is possible you might very rarely be asked to be a donor. Though we generally keep most donors separate from our household. At present they are kept across the hall, because I am newly turned and need access to them with little notice sometimes."

"When do I start?" Shana asked with a smile.

"Right now," Sookie answered. "We'll start you off as an employee and if you fit in and you like it here, we'll discuss moving you to pet status. Let me show you my dressing room so you can make a list of things you'll need to buy. You and Mina can go shopping tomorrow."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

"Come in, come in," Rafe said to the young man at the door. "We're honored to have you in our home." Rafe tried not to sound forced.

With the cooperation of the vampires, the pack council was mounting a massive search for Jason Stackhouse. In exchange for the vampires help, Alcide had agreed to exclude Rafe from the search.

To occupy Rafe and his family while the search was going on, they had been assigned the responsibility of being the host family for the pack's newest applicant, Conall Bayer.

Under normal circumstances Conall would not be placed with a family who had a pregnant daughter in residence. But with so many pack resources being dedicated to the search, few of their households were left with a fulltime protector. And an applicant could not be placed in a home without a male or a very strong female pure Were available to both the applicant and the family at all times.

Conall walked into the Gray's living room on his best behavior. If he was going to be allowed into the pack, he was going to have to make a good impression on his host family. For a period of one month he would be placed with a host who would be observing him and his attitudes so they could report to the council on how well they thought he would be able to fit in with the pack.

"I'm Conall Bayer. I'm honored to have you open your home to me Mr. Gray."

"You can put your duffle over there," Rafe instructed, pointed to a spot next to the stairs. "Sanda and Candia are getting your room ready. They'll be down shortly."

"Yes, sir," Conall responded as he put his duffle bag on the ground. Before he stood back up, he was almost knocked over by Candia's younger brother.

"Is that him, Dad?" the boy was asking with his mouth full of something, as he bounded in from the kitchen.

The boy stopped short and Conall stepped aside at the last moment.

"Whoa, sorry dude," the boy said.

"My son, Lowell," Rafe said, giving the boy a stern look.

Conall smiled at the boy. "You're almost old enough to run with the pack." He extended his hand. "I'm Conall."

Lowell straightened up and shook Conall's hand. "I transformed last full moon," he announced with great pride.

"His first," Rafe added.

"Dad, you didn't have to tell him that."

Conall chuckled softly. "Don't be embarrassed, Lowell. Your first transformation is a big deal. I remember mine." Conall leaned closer to Lowell's ear. "I was terrified. I vomited twice."

"Eww gross." Lowell screwed up his face and took a step backward.

"Don't worry. I've gotten over that," Conall said with a laugh.

"Let's go sit down, before anyone else tries to run you over," Rafe offered and headed for the sofa. "Sit anywhere you like."

Upstairs, Sanda and Candia finished tidying the guest room, which most often was used by Lowell's friends so Sanda inspected it closely for stray snack wrappers and forgotten dirty socks. Candia made the bed with particular care, smoothing every stubborn wrinkle in the covers as if they would frighten their houseguest away.

When the room was ready to their satisfaction, Sanda headed downstairs and Candia promised to join her in a few minutes. She wanted to go check her makeup.

"Please don't flirt," Sanda pleaded. "It would be unseemly in your obvious condition and I'm not sure your father would survive it. He is upset enough that we are being asked to host an applicant right now. Don't make it worse for him."

"I won't. I promise." Candia almost skipped to her room and closed the door behind her. She leaned her back against her door, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Conall was here, under her roof, and he would be here for a whole month. They would be able to see each other and speak to one another without hiding. Of course they would have to be careful what they talked about, but still. She felt like her heart was beating so fast it would burst out of her chest from the sheer weight of her happiness. She wondered if he was feeling anything similar as he waited to see her.

She sat at her vanity and took several deep breaths as she worked on controlling her foolish grin. She had to be careful. A smile was one thing, but the face looking back at her form the mirror was clearly the face of a girl insanely in love. If her parents saw this face, all their planning to keep him concealed would be for nothing and her father would kill him, or try to. Suddenly she was worried for her father too. Conall was so strong. A fight between them would be terrible.

With that thought, her smile vanished and the butterflies in her stomach grew into hummingbirds trying to poke their way out. She glanced in the mirror. This expression was much more what she imagined a sixteen year old girl who was pregnant because of a rape might look like. One more deep breath and she headed downstairs.

She walked into the living room with one arm cradling her swollen stomach. Her mother was serving Conall a glass of something and scolding her father for having not offered Conall a drink.

"There she is," Sanda said with a smile.

Rafe looked up and almost visibly winced. His beautiful daughter for whom he's had such high hopes, standing there protectively holding the belly occupied by two panther monstrosities. Of course he had wanted her to be pregnant now, but not like this. She had been intended for Alcide. As a first born female, when she was offered to him, if she had become pregnant he would have taken her as his mate. The rank within the pack of the Gray family would have been firmly secured, giving Lowell his choice of almost any mate.

Rafe forced those thoughts away for now. There was nothing he could do to change anything now. "Our daughter, Candia," was all he managed to say.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

When Eric walked into the apartment, Sookie didn't even offer him a greeting. She got up and walked straight to the bedroom.

He nodded to the room and followed her. When he reached her, his shirt and shoes had already been abandoned somewhere between the bedroom door and the bed.

"Do you trust me?" Sookie whispered and licked his nipple while unfastening his jeans.

"Would it make you stop if I said no?"

"I doubt it," she giggled. "But I'm pretty sure you could stop me if you really wanted too."

Eric reached to unzip her dress and she dodged. "Not yet, my darling. Don't trust me that much."

She nudged him backward and he arranged himself in the center of the bed. "Do you have handcuffs? Or am I expected to keeps my hands off you by sheer strength of will?"

"Would handcuffs restrain you?" she asked, as her kisses reached his navel.

"Not even if they were silver," he said, lacing his hands behind his head and lifting his knees.

"No silver here," she whispered and ran her hands down his thighs, ending at his butt.

He was fully erect before she ever even touched his cock. She ran her fingers from tip to base and grabbed causing him to twitch and groan. She leaned down and kissed near her hand. He fluttered against her touch as she kissed and sucked her way up. Despite her transformation, the taste of him hadn't changed, buttery popcorn with a hint of chocolate. "Mmmm, I've missed you," she murmured, lifting her hand to gently pull his foreskin back. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes," he moaned, reaching for her hair but pulling back and clutching a handful of sheet.

Sookie licked her lips and took him in. She had been so concerned about keeping control of her fangs she hadn't even considered the thrilling upside being a vampire had in this situation. She didn't need to breathe.

She swallowed hard and took him deeper. She didn't choke. Oh, this was incredible. As her mouth and tongue engulfed him, her hands caressed his thighs. She moved along his tight, quivering flesh with complete abandon, determined to properly compensate him for his patience and feed her own hunger for him.

As she quickened her pace, his low moaning became a series of spasmodic groans, punctuated with an occasional shout in Swedish. He finally gave up his effort to refrain from grabbing her hair. With a hand on each side of her head, he yelled her name and exploded into her.

She swallowed and gulped him in. The flexing of the muscles in her throat was amazing. He pushed his hips up. She had taken him fully but for these seconds, he wanted more. When he was spent and had fallen back into the bed, she struck.

With her hand she had found his femoral artery. She extended her fangs and bit him ferociously. He screamed, more from the surprise than from pain, but he made no attempt to remove her. His body shook and curled into a fetal position around her. After several deep draws she withdrew and his frame relaxed around her.

"I love you," he whispered and pulled her into his arms.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"No thank you, I don't have time for a visit. I just wanted to stop by and let you know how things are going," Alcide said, standing on Rafe's front porch.

"I take it she didn't tell you where he is," Rafe replied without any attempt to maintain a civil tone.

"She doesn't know, Rafe."

"And you believe her?"

"I do," Alcide answered. "Aaron was there. You can ask him what he thought, but I'm fairly sure he believed her too.

Eric has promised his full cooperation and access to all his territories. He will also provide us with vampires to increase our numbers for the search. Sookie wants him found and Eric is willing to do whatever it takes to oblige her."

"Yeah, I've heard he's gone weak for his woman."

"Believe what you like Rafe. I have things to do and I'm not going to argue with you. But Eric just led the takeover a vampire kingdom, personally executed the former king and prevented an attempt on his woman's life as he did it. That's not something a weak man or vampire could do."

"So if the vampire doesn't have him, it must be the panthers then."

"That's a possibility. I'll have to go visit with Calvin Norris again. See if he's talked to Jason or been able to find out anything."

"You do what you have to do, Alcide. While I wait for my little girl to miscarry cats."

"I'm sorry, Rafe. You know I wish things had turned out differently. If she remembers anything that might be helpful, let me know right away." Alcide got back in his truck and left.

Rafe closed his front door and as he walked to his chair, the wheels in his head started turning at top speed. Alcide was a good pack leader and he was doing everything as he should, for the pack. He was protecting the balance of power and maintaining peace.

It wasn't enough. Someone would have to pay for what Candia had suffered and was still to suffer. There had to be restitution for what was taken from him and his family. For the opportunities which would not come to his son first, for the social position he and his wife would never have now. He lost track of time as he sat and stewed and his anger built.

"Mr. Gray?"

Rafe was startled by Conall's voice. He had been so absorbed in thought he hadn't even heard the guy come into the room. "What is it Conall? Do you need something?"

"Sorry to disturb you, sir. I think I'm due to take a physical this morning and then I'd like to start the strength trials, if that's okay with you."

Rafe looked at his watch, after ten. "Yeah, let's go. Dr. Ludwig can be a real pain in the ass when you're late."

On the way to the clinic, the men talked about Candia.

"You were at the council the other night, so you know about our situation with Candia," Rafe began.

"Yes, sir, I heard her conversation with the pack leader. I thought he was very gentle with her. You can tell a lot about a man by the way he treats women. I can tell you're a good man. A lot of men would have put her out under similar circumstances."

Rafe sounded very old as he spoke. "If she had done this intentionally, she would have been put out. She would have been abjured by the pack and I would have agreed. She was intended for Alcide."

Conall was taken aback by this news. "Alcide has no mate?"

"No. He is young and has only recently become pack leader. As the first born of two pures and being of proper breeding age, Candia was quite a prize."

"I'm very sorry."

Rafe scoffed bitterly. "Nothing you can do. It isn't as if you were the cause of all this."

Conall felt his stomach tighten. That crazy little bitch, why hadn't she told him who she was? He still might have slept with her, but he sure would have made sure she didn't get pregnant.

When they realized she was pregnant, the plan had been for her to drive someplace out of pack territory and seduce a Were. She would accuse him and he would likely be killed, but it was a necessary sacrifice. Conall would never be allowed into the pack if it were known he had seduced one of the pack females before it was within his rights, as a member of the pack.

No one would bother checking DNA because Werewolves, particularly the pures, were often difficult to distinguish. Not always, but often enough to render the testing unreliable in many cases.

In the mean time, Conall would join the pack and 'meet' Candia. He would take her as his mate and accept the child. That would put him in a very good light and help repair her tarnished social standing.

What he hadn't counted on was Candia's inability to distinguish between Weres. She had recognized this Jason as a Were, but she didn't realize he was a panther. So now she was expected to miscarry any minute, which wasn't likely to happen.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, Jason wasn't just any panther. Oh, hell no! Candia couldn't screw up his perfectly simple instructions only that much. She had to go and choose the widowed son-in-law of the panther leader and brother of the vampire queen. She couldn't possibly have made a worse mess of things.

They pulled into the clinic parking lot and Rafe said he'd wait in the truck. Conall cooperated with all of Dr. Ludwig's commands without thinking at all. His mind was whirling around other matters.

Of course, whether Candia miscarried or delivered healthy twins, it didn't much matter any more. Whichever way it would be obvious the children were wolves and not panther hybrids. Stupid, stupid girl. She hadn't just broken her parents hearts when she met him in the woods. She had ruined his chances of joining the pack. She would have no choice. When she was threatened with being abjured, she would have to name him.

He couldn't let that happen. He was tired of being a lone wolf. He had to be in a pack. Rafe was his ticket in. Rafe's despair would make him easy to impress. And Conall would impress him in a big way.

On the way back to the house, Conall listened intently as Rafe ranted and railed about Calvin Norris and how he had as much as said he would protect Jason if they could. He wanted to exact revenge on the panthers. To make them suffer as he was suffering. Make them realize they had better hand Jason over.

"Would a run count as a strength test?" Conall asked when Rafe had taken a break to catch his breath. "A long run, an endurance test?"

"Yes, marathon type runs are used many times in applicant training."

"And how far is it to Hot Shot?" Conall asked.

Rafe pulled over into a large parking lot. He stopped and stared silently at Conall, as if he wasn't quite sure what he was thinking. If they were thinking the same thing, this could be a godsend. If Rafe spoke out and Conall was not thinking the same thing, it could be a dangerous conversation.

When Rafe didn't speak, Conall filled the air between them. "Candia is a beautiful girl, Mr. Gray. I've lived alone for three years now. I know what it's like to be kept away. If I'm accepted into the pack and if she'll have me, I would be proud to take her as mate. And of course, I'd also take any children she had, if she was able to carry them long enough to have them.

I assume I would need to bring something back from the midway point in my run. Is there something particular you would be looking for?"

"Proof you were there," Rafe said. His expression didn't change.

Conall opened his door. "Which way?"

"South by South West, sixteen miles."

Conall slipped out of the truck and jogged away.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

"Eric, do you have private investigators on your payroll?"

"On my payroll?" he asked with a chuckle as he pulled his T-shirt over his head. "As in standing about in the hallway awaiting instructions? No. However, I do know private investigators who are very good at their job, who will drop what they're doing and do something for me."

"Would they do something for me?"

"I'm sure they would be happy to provide service to the queen. What or whom do you wish privately investigated?" He was staring intently.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Sookie asked. Her hand was at her stomach. She could feel something, but she wasn't sure what it was. "Like a cat at a canary cage."

"I disagree with your analogy, my love. An audience member watching a magician would be more appropriate. There are times when I know you are about to do or say something which will make me admire you even more than I already do. I relish those times. They reinforce my confidence in my choice."

"Well, I wouldn't get too excited about this. I was just wondering if you thought it would be a good idea to have someone watching Candia? Someone not a vampire. If she still sees the father of her babies, maybe we could find out who he is."

"Abracadabra!" Eric shouted and grabbed Sookie off the bed and swung her around. "It is done, Dearest, and I never cease to be marveled by you. Indeed, you are a perfect match for me. Our minds are as one.

Keeping ahead of you challenges my mind. If I am to impress you, I am compelled to truly think. I give you a small nudge and you run for miles. In two or three hundred years I will have taught you all I can and you will grow bored with me. Life is a game of chess and it becomes quite tedious when you are left to play with those who are challenged by checkers."

"Bored with you? Not possible." Sookie wrapped her legs around him so he wouldn't put her down. "You fill a place in me no one else ever could." She leaned in and kissed him lightly on the side of his mouth.

"You flatter me, my love. Though I share your enthusiasm for my endowments, I feel certain I am not the only man on the planet, so favored."

"Men are so silly," she said with a sigh. She reached down and lifted his hand to her cheek. She closed her eyes and nuzzled into his palm. "And which of these other favored men would come with your touch? It's the touch of these hands that both thrills and comforts me."

She traced his lips with a finger. "So soft and beautiful. This other man would have to be able to kiss me as these lips do, and speak with the voice I hear with my ears and my heart. The voice I could happily close my eyes and listen to forever.

She moved her hand to his forehead and moved down the side of his face to his cheekbone. And does this other man have these eyes that know me so well? Will he look at me with so much love I would willingly face death rather than ever give him up?

No, my darling, I would cheerfully play checkers with you until the end of time and consider myself the luckiest woman who ever existed."

"Come to the office in two hours. I have two agencies already working on learning about Candia. I'll have them come in to report on their progress and you can give them your input as well."

"Who else would take such good care of me?" she whispered and kissed him passionately.

He sat on the edge of the bed with her in his lap and eagerly returned her kisses. "We will defy the limits of time together, my love."

"Mmm, that sounds like fun," Sookie murmured as she slid around him and slipped out of her panties. "I wonder what other limits we could defy before then?"

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

When Conall got to the woods outside Hot Shot, he walked the entire perimeter of the small Were panther community. It was late afternoon and the children and teens were mostly outside.

As Conall snaked his way along the bank of a swollen creek, he came upon two girls hiding behind a clump of trees and watching a group of boys skinny-dipping in the creek. They were whispering about grabbing the boy's clothes and running.

Good idea, Conall thought. He transformed, hid well behind the girls and gave a horrible snarling growl, which seemed to echo off the nearby trees and into the woods.

The frightened girls screamed and ran from their hiding place. The boys heard Conall as well and his growl combined with the screaming girls was enough to make them leave the water and run as well. Only one girl looked back. She saw movement, but nothing she would be able to identify.

Conall grabbed a shoe and a shirt and ran.

When he arrived back at the Gray's home, it was after dark. He handed the shirt and shoe over to Rafe and explained what he'd done. "If they're going to attack our defenseless young ones, they should be reminded to keep their own safe."

"Yes," Rafe said. "It's the least they should expect."

"I'll go upstairs and take a shower now," Conall said. "It's been a long day.

When he reached the top of the stairs, Candia was standing in her doorway smiling at him. "You've been gone all day," she whispered.

Conall smirked and walked to her. He rubbed her belly with one hand and wound the fingers of the other into her hair. He leaned in and kissed her hard on the mouth, causing her to gasp for air. "And I was thinking of you every minute," he said smoothly before releasing her and heading to the bathroom to take his shower.

Candia stood breathless and blushing in her doorway, listening to the running shower, until she heard her mother coming up the stairs.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

When Eric and Sookie emerged from their room, they were met by Oliver and a new face. He was a tall man, though not quite as tall as Eric, maybe six foot one or two. He had dark hair, very dark eyes with thick lashes and the way his skin tone darkened around his eyes gave him the illusion of wearing eyeshadow.

"This is Devon Bradford, Your Majesties," Oliver said with a nod.

Devon made an elaborate bow with one foot in front of the other and his right hand extended in front, palm up. "It is my pleasure and honor to meet you. I look forward to many years of faithful service to your security and to Her Majesty's training."

"My training? For what?" Sookie asked as Devon resumed his standing position.

"Mr. Bradford is a master swordsman and a warlock. He will serve the dual purpose of being our liaison with the Britlingen guild as well as taking the responsibility of teaching Your Majesty to handle a sword."

Sookie looked up at Eric. "I'm going to take sword lessons? Are we going to be pirates?"

Eric chuckled and smiled. "It is important you learn to defend yourself, Dearest. Before you were much too fragile to protect yourself from the types of enemies you were confronted with. You are much stronger and faster now. Thus you will now be better able to handle the weapons which will be most useful to you."

"Swords?"

"Much more elegant than guns and ultimately more efficient for the types of situations you may be threatened with. Humans are now only a very minor threat while you are awake. In the vast majority of cases you will be able to hear them and out maneuver them. So no weapon is necessary for them.

A dangerous encounter with a supernatural being is much more likely to be up close. You may have very little notice of the impending attack. Thus weapons suitable for close combat are what you need to learn to use. You may also learn basic defense and attack postures and stances. Though learning actual weaponless fighting will be of little value since a fistfight with another vampire could go on from sunset to sundown for centuries without resolution."

"So I'm taking sword lessons," she said "Well, I don't want to do it here. If anybody starts swinging a sword around in our home, it better be because there's a threat right here."

"As you command, my love," Eric said with a laugh. "And I believe a sword would be too cumbersome. I envision you with a rapier and perhaps a main gauche." Eric looked to Devon. "I assume this is within the scope of your expertise?"

"Oh yes, Your Majesty and an excellent choice. The rapier, main gauche combination is very well suited to a lady such as your queen."

"Save your flattery for the ladies, Bradford. I find it tiresome," Eric said.

"Of course," Devon replied and bowed his head.

"Two hours, my love," Eric said to Sookie. He kissed her hand and left.

"You'll have to excuse me," Sookie said to Devon. "Oliver."

Sookie and Oliver left and when they returned less than fifteen minutes later Sookie's color was improved and she was smiling. She noticed Devon looking out the window and said, "Please have a seat, Mr. Bradford. I'll be with you in just a few minutes."

Sookie sat in her favorite chair and asked that Mina come sit beside her. "How was your day, Mina?"

"We got a lot done today. We got the majority of Shana's things from her parent's house and had them brought here. We did quite a bit of shopping. She thinks she has everything she'll need for you."

"I think we need to take her shopping for her too. Let her know she's worth spending some time and money. What about Karen?"

"Karen has been transfused and she's feeling much better. She is downstairs at the pool now."

"Alone?"

"Genevieve went with her. Did you want her to have a proper bodyguard?"

"I don't think that's necessary, do you? I was just thinking of her feeling lonely," Sookie said.

"I've never heard of a donor being targeted, so I'm sure she's fine without a guard."

"I agree, but Mina, I don't want you going anywhere without protection." Sookie squeezed Mina's hand. "I can't risk losing you.

Now what else? Did you speak to David?"

"Yes, Mistress. I delivered your message and he said he will be able to accommodate you."

"Did he say anything else?"

"He said your order is his top priority and you shouldn't worry because he will keep it very safe and secure."

Sookie closed her eyes briefly and smiled. "Thank you, Mina. That's all for now."

Mina got up and Sookie called for Devon to come and sit. "So you're a warlock and you're going to be our Britlingen liaison?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Have you dealt with them before? I thought they preferred working with females."

"Generally that's true, but I think overall what they like most is efficiency. They appreciate being able to come and go with as little production and fuss as possible. I have worked with their guild twice as an apprentice and once on my own. Despite my lack of extensive experience, I believe I'm qualified to perform the tasks you require to everyone's satisfaction."

"And you're gonna teach me to use a sword. That sounds like fun. Or at least it used to be."

"Ah! You've handled a sword before?" Devon perked up and showed a very attractive smile.

"Not exactly," Sookie giggled. "Unless you count playing pirates in my grandmother's back yard, with my brother, when we were children."

Devon laughed and said, "Well, I guess that depends on whether or not you won the duels."

"Sorry, Jason always won," Sookie giggled.

"After a few weeks of training you can challenge him to a rematch and show off your new skills."

"You're very confident in your abilities, Mr. Bradford."

"I have been called conceited, and please, Your Majesty, I'm Devon."

Shana and Genevieve came in, both toweling their hair and laughing happily.

"Wonderful!" Sookie said loudly. "Genevieve, Shana, get dressed and let's all go over to The Asgard and see if we can have some fun tonight.

Devon, come with us. Surely one of my ladies can tempt you. Oh, and Devon, my husband says conceit is for peasants. Always say confident."

"I would be honored to join the party, Your Majesty."

"When my husband isn't present, you may call me Mistress or ma'am. We'll leave shortly. Ausra, please play for us while we wait for everyone to get ready to go."

Oliver called ahead to see that Sookie's platform was prepared with adequate seating for ten, with additional seating at the ready in case Eric joined them with anyone else. He also arranged for a donor to accompany them.

Half an hour later, Sookie's phone vibrated as she and her entourage were walking across the parking lot. It was Bill. She slowed her pace and stepped away from the group. When Oliver moved to follow she raised a palm to him.

"I'm not free to speak. -- Yes, but only what I asked for. – Thank you."

Sookie closed her phone and rejoined the group just as they were crossing the Rainbow Bridge.

"Hail the goddess of Asgard," someone called as they entered the building.

They made a slow loop through the main casino, and wound their way back to the Goddess Hall, the large room containing only the higher minimum gaming tables and Sookie's receiving platform at the far end.

Once she was seated, Sookie insisted everyone go play something, but she sat at her table and received photo and autograph seekers. Oliver refused to leave her alone, so Ausra agreed to alternate short shifts with Oliver, so he could spend time with Mina.

With Sookie visible, despite the higher minimum bets on the tables, The Goddess Hall became the place to be. Every seat at every card table was filled and crowds assembled around the craps and roulette tables.

For the next hour Sookie basked in the love and attention of the crowd. Many had come in hopes of seeing the vampire queen, the goddess of Asgard and they were thrilled to not be going home disappointed.

There was a craps table near one end of her platform and a roulette wheel at the other. Occasionally she would get up and hand a stack of chips over the rail and ask a random person to place a bet for her, then make a point of being very dramatically excited or disappointed, depending on if her bet won or lost.

Time passed quickly like this until it was time to go to Eric's office. Oliver led Sookie to the donor behind the drape at the platform's edge, and when she was finished, she and Oliver went upstairs.

There were two human men seated across from Eric when she entered the office. All three of them stood until she was seated beside Eric and introductions were made. The two men, Ron and Wade, each owned private investigation businesses and had been employed to find out all they could about Candia Gray.

She was an excellent student in a private school. Her favorite class was creative writing and she placed second in a short story competition last year with a story called First Love's Blush. She had been on the student council and had not been a cheerleader this last year, though she was the year before. By all accounts she was very close to her mother and had never had a boyfriend. According to a source Wade identified only as a friend of the mother, Sookie saw that her name was Alice, the family had hoped Candia would be selected by Alcide after she was presented to him.

Probably part of the reason Alcide seemed particularly sad, Sookie thought.

The two men droned on and on, tag-teaming information about how Candia spent her days and her nights in typical good girl teenager ways. She went to the mall, she got her hair and nails done, she shopped, she bought more shoes than any ten people could ever wear. She liked chick flicks and silly comedies, she had a fangirl crush on Zac Ephron, she recently began collecting dragonflies and …

"What?" Eric and Sookie asked in unison.

"She collects dragonflies," Wade said. "Apparently she has accumulated quite a large collection. She started in the spring and she has specimens from tiny nymphs to cocoons to full grown dragon and damselflies."

"Does that not strike either of you as odd?" Eric asked in a very condescending tone.

Sookie placed a hand on Eric's and she spoke next. "Gentlemen, you've been describing a very girly girl. And now you say this girly girl is suddenly collecting bugs, and that doesn't sound strange to you?"

"People collect all sorts of things, ma'am. Dragonflies are pretty and delicate looking. They wouldn't be that unusual of a choice for girl to collect."

"It isn't a question of if she collects dragonflies," Eric added. The question is, if she collects dragonflies – "

"Why?" Sookie finished. "Why dragonflies and why now?"

"The nymphs hatch in water," Eric said "in the early spring."

"The Grays live about half a mile from Cross Lake," Ron offered.

Eric looked at Sookie. "She met someone at the lake. Someone she couldn't take home."

A smile grew across Sookie's face. "And she's been meeting him there. And bringing home dragonflies for a collection as a cover."

Eric turned back to the men. "I want Cross Lake scoured, every rock overturned. Find anything you can about when she comes there, how often, who she sees and what she does. Go."

Ron and Wade left and Sookie called Oliver to her. "Oliver, the Weres are still searching Bon Temps, right?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"I received some information earlier this evening. I need you to make sure they interview Hoyt Fortenberry. He and Jason met Candia at the same time. I need the Weres to hear how the meeting happened. It wasn't at a gas station."

"I will see to it tonight."

"And how did the meeting happen, my love?" Eric was looking at her with one eyebrow raised.

"Jason and Hoyt were in drinking in Merlotte's. Jason had had a lot to drink. Candia came in. She played the jukebox. She sat at their table and she and Jason flirted with each other. They both left in their own cars. She followed Jason to his place, they had sex, consensual, and when Jason woke up she was already gone. He didn't know she was so young and he never saw her again."

"And when was this meeting?"

"Back in February some time. Jason didn't remember exactly when," Sookie answered. "Oliver, I appreciate all you've done and I am sorry for not telling you before now it was my fault you couldn't find Jason the other night. I had someone take him away, but please believe me when I say I do not know where he was taken or where he is now."

"I will believe whatever you tell me, my Queen"

"I am your friend, Oliver."

"Oliver is well aware of how true a friend you are to him, my love. Now, as it happens I am available to offer my services as escort to Her Majesty for the remainder of the evening." Eric stood and offered his arm to Sookie. "Where to?"

"I'd love to dance," she said, happily smiling up at him and encircling his arm with hers.

"Then you shall dance."

"When did you speak to Bill?" Eric asked nonchalantly as they walked downstairs to the nightclub.

Sookie's expression clearly showed her surprise at the question. "Earlier tonight. How did you know? Surely you didn't hear?"

"No," Eric scoffed. "I did not hear. And lest you have concerned yourself on that account, I do not eavesdrop on you, Dearest.

I assumed it was Bill you called to remove Jason from Bon Temps. He was the obvious choice. No one else could have gotten him out of town and away from Oliver without detection."

"Oh."

"And of course he called me shortly after Jason was taken from him."

"What?" Sookie demanded.

Eric actually looked surprised Sookie didn't know this. "He admired your cleverness, but he thought it unkind of me to not have made the arrangements for you."

"And did you argue?"

"Of course. His position is absurd. How are you to learn and develop your confidence if I do things for you, which you are fully capable of doing for yourself?"

"So once I learn to use swords and defend myself, you'll take all the layers of security out from around me?"

Eric stopped and looked into her eyes. "Not a single layer, for a single second. Not if you become a master swordswoman. You are my life. Even the slightest risk to you is of paramount importance to me."

"I guess I'll never win that argument," Sookie sighed. "Are you saying Bill called you to say he thought I was clever?"

"Not at all. He called to express his displeasure at the permanence of our happiness."

"He's pissed he didn't get to turn me."

"Precisely."

"And I suppose you argued about that too?"

Eric's smile was almost exploding off his face. "Of course."

"But you're not so anxious to tell me about that one?"

"Suffice it to say, I am male. And as such, I am not above taking pleasure in exacting petty torments at the expense of another male, for the sake of a female."

"How eloquent," Sookie said, as she rolled her eyes.

"Thank you, my love."

"I wish I hadn't called him. The two of you are like children on a playground."

"You had no other viable option. You did exactly as you should have done. You weighed everything available to you and took best advantage of it.

And it is my good fortune the playground belongs to me. Perhaps I should order him to take a mate? It might improve his attitude."

"Don't you dare!" Sookie ordered. "Leave him alone. You won and we're happy. Isn't that enough?"

"You are ever more than enough," he said softly, lifting her hand to kiss it. "I am in constant awe of the serendipity of our meeting."

They reached the nightclub and the blaring music made any further conversation impractical. As was his custom, Eric walked them straight to the DJ stand and instructed the music be changed.

A few seconds later Aerosmith's 'Rag Doll' began to play. They danced and enthralled the tourists until Sookie needed to leave. They both went to the donor suite to feed before retiring to their room and making love until the approaching dawn forced them to stop.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

"You have very strong lungs," came a raspy voice from the other side of the wall as the first rays of morning crept through the barred window. "Strong lungs usually mean a strong body. Are you strong?"

There, a tiny crack near the floor, it was coming from there.

"Who are you?"

"What difference does that make? I'm like you. I'm being held here against my will. Answer the question, boy. Are you strong?"

"I'm pretty strong."

"And you're not a cripple in some way?"

"No, I ain't a cripple."

"I think I've figured a way out of here, but I'll need someone strong to help me."

"You're gonna escape?"

"I am. And I'm gonna take you with me if you're willing. You want to leave don't you? I've heard you yelling and kicking up an awful big fuss the last couple of days. That's how I know you have good lungs." There was a craggy laugh that sounded like it might have come from an evil troll in a children's movie.

"Yeah, I want to get the hell out of here."

"I'm Elinor, what's your name?

"Jason."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Conall moved carefully along the tree line surrounding the lake. Though there seemed to be no added security put in place since his visit a week ago. He was offended his actions were not being taken seriously. That would change today.

Two houses were within his view when he saw her in the distance. She was young, no more then fifteen, blonde hair, small frame. This was going to be quick. He'd be back to Shreveport before lunch.

The moment that thought crossed his mind a group of four other girls joined the first. After a round of "Oh my god! I didn't know you were out here!" and "I didn't know you'd be out this early either!" the girls sat down cross-legged, in a circle beside a huge live oak, completely unaware of how near danger was lurking.

He stayed back and watched them from within a small thicket of young trees. They sat with their heads nearly touching, giggling and sharing their deepest secrets.

The blonde had run into a boy from school in town the other day and they had both almost fallen over. The boy's hand had touched her breast as he pushed away from her and he pulled it back so fast he ran into the wall.

"Oh, that means he likes you!" another girl chimed in, and they all burst into a new round of high-pitched giggling.

Conall sat through rounds of talk of boys, parents, celebrities, and shopping, all punctuated with giggles and shrieking. After about an hour the group disbanded, leaving the blond alone again. She had a bucket. Conall hadn't noticed that before. She crouched down and appeared to be digging around in the underbrush. Conall struck so quickly she didn't have time to react.

He covered her head with a drawstring bag filled with foam as he began dragging her to the nearby pier. He would have to hurry before she began to choke. He tore her dress from her, leaving her in her underclothes. She fought, but it was no use. He took the can of foaming scent wash from his hip pocket and sprayed her until her body was fairly well covered and the can was sputtering. He tucked the can back into his pocket. Thank heavens for hunters, so many products designed for them had other handy uses.

Lastly, he loosened the drawstring and tossed the girl off the pier, into the Lake. He was well away before she had stopped gaging enough to scream.

It was noon when Conall arrived back at the Gray house and found Rafe standing on the back porch staring into the yard. Conall stepped out onto the porch and silently handed over the dress.

Rafe looked at the torn garment in his hands and brought it to his face. He breathed in deep, taking in the unmistakable panther scent. He was almost brought to tears by what he saw as an act of love, respect and loyalty.

He embraced Conall and pledged to do all he could to have Conall's application approved. Then he walked around the house to the garage to put the dress with the shirt and shoe Conall had brought to him last week.

Conall sat down in the porch swing to think about his situation. Rafe was on his side. He would be accepted into the pack, he was certain of that now. That only left what to do about –

"Conall." Candia said sweetly. She was standing in the back doorway with the screen ajar. "Can I come sit in the swing with you?"

"Candia!" he hissed. "Get back in the house before someone sees you."

"Daddy wouldn't mind. He likes you."

"Not now, Candia. Haven't you screwed things up bad enough? Go inside. I need to think."

"Please don't be mean, Conall. I've done everything you told me too. I get enough mean already. Daddy says I can't even go back to school unless the babies are born before school starts. I can't control that. I don't know what he expects me to do."

Conall got up from the swing and closed the distance between the two of them. He stood only inches from the screen, with Candia on the other side. "Do you really want to know what he expects you to do? I'll tell you. He expects you to miscarry, Candia."

Candia clutched her belly protectively and stepped back from the screen. "What?" she gasped. "No. Why would he expect that?" Panic was rising in her voice and her hands began to shake. "What made you say that, Conall?"

Candia's mind was spinning wildly as she recalled how often her father had come home covered in the blood of others. If there was a fight in the pack or with another pack, her father was always in the thick of it. She knew he was a violent man and yes, she was afraid of him on some level, though his violence had never been directed at her. Would he really hurt her? Would he hurt her babies? His own grandchildren?

"You're wrong," she panted.

"Am I? That man you accused, he's a panther."

"No, he's a Were. I'm certain of it."

"Panther, he's a Were panther."

"But he's a Were," she cried desperately. "So everything will be all right. Daddy will make sure you get into the pack and we'll get married and raise our babies and we'll be fine."

"Stop rambling and listen. The man is a panther. He's a cat. You're a dog. Cats and dogs can't interbreed. When they try, they miscarry … every time, Candia. If our babies are born alive, that's proof you were lying."

Candia began to visibly wobble as she absorbed what Conall was saying.

"But I, but –"

Conall barely made it to her before she hit the floor.

~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~

Sookie stretched and scooted toward the edge of the bed but was stopped by Eric's arm encircling her. "I'm not finished with you," he said in a low, husky growl.

"Finished? Did you dream the beginning or have I already forgotten it?"

Eric let go of her, rolled onto his back and brought a hand dramatically to his heart. "Only just awakened, and already the cruelty of my mistress bears its self. Such wounds I suffer at the tip of her tongue. No blade so sharp as her threat to forget."

"Get over it, Mr. Barrymore," she said with a smirk. "You're just jealous there are people waiting for me tonight and not just you."

"Let them wait." He ran a hand down her spine and brought it to rest in the small of her back.

"It would be rude to leave them waiting," she sighed.

"Do not speak to me of manners," he said bringing her down onto his pillow and staring into her eyes. "I waited over a thousand years for you. They can wait an hour."

He covered her mouth with his to prevent any further protest.

She acquiesced at once, yielding to his kiss, his will, his passion. Yes, they would have to wait. They had nothing to offer her to compete with her lover's touch.

He moved to her breast and sucked greedily as she squirmed and her clenching fingers dug into his shoulders. "Oh, don't stop," she cried when his lips released her nipple and he moved quickly to the bottom of the bed.

"Fear not, my love," he whispered as his hands slowly caressed her knees and he kissed her ankles, one and the other, then moving her legs apart just enough to have room to brush his lips up her calves, inching her open as he progressed. He kissed and licked his way up her thighs until he reached their center where he lingered enjoying the reactions of her body as he tasted and taunted her.

The melody of her moaning sang to him as he led her closer to her climax and as her moans became screams of ecstasy, the attentions of his lips and tongue remained unabated. He held her fast as she writhed helplessly in his embrace, her inflamed clit sending explosions of pleasure rampaging through her with every new assault of his tongue.

She abandoned all pretense of participation and gave herself over to him, her every thought, every tissue consumed by the ravenousness of his desire.

When his own need for release demanded his attention, he released his hold and pulled himself up to look at her as she lay quaking beneath him. He entered her gradually, as if it were their first time together, gently urging her swollen flesh to surrender to him, each small advance of his hips eliciting a soft cry and a shadow movement from her.

"Open your eyes, my lover," he purred.

She was lost, in his thrall. She tried to open her eyes, but was stopped by a tremor running up her spine, causing it to arch sharply.

He brushed her hair away from her face. "Sookie."

She forced her eyes to meet his. Her weak smile interrupted by a fragile mewling sound as he pressed deeper into her. She held tight to his arms and tried to keep pace with him though her strength foundered.

At last he collapsed on the bed beside her, slipped an arm around her and pulled her close. Sookie smiled to herself as she about all the evenings ahead of her, evenings with Eric, making love and enjoying one another's bodies like this, until they were both exhausted and laying weak in each other's arms.

"Will my lady consent to join me in the shower?" he whispered into her ear.

"Can we just lay here for a few minutes first, my lord?"

He nuzzled through her hair and kissed her neck. "For as long as you like."

~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~

Sookie had only been taking lessons from Devon for five days and already she was bored to distraction. Each thing he showed her seemed more ridiculous than the last. She sometimes felt twinges of guilt for it, but she had Mina taking lesson with her. She claimed it was so she'd have someone to practice with, but the only thing she was less interested in than classes, was practicing. But having Mina suffering along with her at least gave her someone to complain with.

Devon held their classes in the gym, which was closed to hotel guests during class time. Tonight, Oliver was with them, because he would be escorting Sookie to The Asgard later for a meeting in Eric's office.

Normally, Ausra had accompanied them to class, but she had other duties this evening. A large group of Britlingens was being brought over later this evening and she was making preparations to welcome them. Devon would be leaving Valhalla immediately after class to go and open the portal for them. Sookie was looking forward to seeing Saule again and sincerely hoping Devon would cut it short this evening so he could go on about his other business.

They pressed through the small crowd of guests gathered in the hall to peer through the windows and watch the vampire queen do something perfectly ordinary and were greeted by Devon's ever present smile.

"Ah! Mr. Mayer will be joining our class this evening."

Oliver was less than receptive to Devon's assumption. "With Her Majesty's permission, I will refrain from killing you this evening," he said and went to the corner nearest the door so was both out of the way and within striking distance of the door in the event some unauthorized person tried to come into the gym.

Sookie and Mina stifled giggles and Sookie finally said, "I believe Oliver was trying to say we're not skilled enough to offer him enough competition for him to bother with."

"Well," Devon said cheerfully, "Then we will be two against one tonight. Ladies, please retrieve your weapons and as usual, we will begin with position one."

This was like a nightmare, Sookie thought. First position, lunge and parry, watch your center line, keep above the high line, rinse and repeat. Ridiculous! If Eric had been in first position and watching his center line when Brendaen burst through the door at Dr. Ludwig's clinic, he'd have been sliced in half.

She'd seen people fight with swords when there was more than trophies or ribbons on the line. She'd been around for fights to the death armed with a garden trowel and some lemon juice. She'd seen Eric in all his glory, in New Orleans, a warrior god surrounded by enemies, flinging the head of a fallen soldier into the air and daring them to try and take his.

Nothing Devon was showing her could possibly be of any use to her in a situation like that.

"Mistress, please," Devon was saying.

"I'm sorry, what? I got distracted."

"If you don't use the parry properly, you will be disarmed. Let's try again."

Two moves and Sookie was watching her dagger fly across the floor and crash into the wall. Class wasn't half done, but she had no intention of picking that dagger up again.

"That's it. I'm leaving. Mina, you can stay if you like. I'm going to The Asgard."

Oliver directed his amused grin at Devon as he held the door for Sookie and followed her out.

"If he'd knocked that dagger away from me once more I don't know what I would have done," she complained as she stalked out the front of Valhalla and into the parking lot.

She looked over at Oliver. "And why does Eric want me to have to use a sword AND a dagger anyway?" she asked. She didn't really want an answer, so she continued her rant. "And as far as that goes, I don't even need to use a sword. Whenever I'm out of his sight, I have you and pretty soon we're gonna have a battalion of Britlingens swinging swords all over the Parrish, because God knows we need that."

Oliver jumped in front of her, diverting her from the main entrance to The Asgard and onto a smaller path leading to a service door in the back. "Perhaps we should take this way tonight."

"Right," she agreed. "Queens and goddesses probably shouldn't be seen ranting and raving like a lunatic. But you've seen how he is, Oliver! I don't have to worry about having my head cut off. I'll die of boredom before anyone has a chance to do it."

Safe from the crowd of tourists, she kept up her monologue of complaints all the way to Eric's office.

~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~

"Good evening, Alcide." Eric motioned for him to have a seat across form him.

"We have a problem," Alcide began. "A young panther girl was attacked in Hot Shot this morning."

"Before dawn?"

"Around ten.

"In that case, I do not understand what this unfortunate incident has to do with me?" Eric leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs as he waited to see if Alcide had anything to add which might make this conversation more interesting.

"I need to find Jason Stackhouse."

That wasn't it. "Is he suspected of this attack as well?"

"No, I would be surprised if it wasn't one of my own. It couldn't have been Rafe. I can account for all his time this morning, but it was probably someone who thinks they're doing him a favor. If we don't find Jason soon, this could escalate into war. That would be bad for all of us, even you."

"What would you have me do? I have already given you my assurance neither Sookie, nor I know where Jason is. If he is within our lands, it is without our knowledge or protection.

With the exception of my bedchamber, which I share with my wife alone, I have granted you access to every inch of territory within my influence. I have given you personnel and financial backing for your search. What is it you want from me?"

"She hasn't left Shreveport, Eric."

After a long pause, Eric said simply, "Who?"

"Let's not play games. You know perfectly well, who. She may not know where he is, but not even you would be able to keep her here if she didn't know he was safe, or at least be pretty sure he was safe.

Her transformation may have changed the way she defines her feelings for him, but he's still her brother. She would still feel possessive of him. You'd have to have her chained in a coffin someplace to keep her here. So maybe she doesn't know, but she knows of someone who does."

Eric propped his elbows on the padded arms of his chair and clasped his hands in front of him. "Let us assume, for the sake of argument, your theory is correct. It neglects one vital consideration. I am Sookie's maker. As such, I would not need to chain her anywhere. I could simply forbid her to leave. She would be unable to defy me."

"Yes, you could. But you wouldn't. It's long been widely said your mate is the most indulged woman in the South. You might raise an army to surround her if she was out of your sight. Or you might even leave everything in Shreveport to rot and accompany her yourself. But you wouldn't force her to stay if she wanted to leave."

"She believes in his innocence, Alcide and you refuse to give her access to the girl to prove it one way or the other. If you believe what you say, you must also believe I would never compel her give him up without evidence of his guilt. Not if it meant the extinction of wolves and panthers en masse.

She has been witness to your justice. She will do everything in her power to prevent him being subjected to it. And do not doubt her power is great, greater than she realizes."

Alcide stood. "I understand," he said with a slight nod before heading for the door.

Just before he reached it, Sookie came bounding through without knocking and almost ran into him. "Alcide. I didn't expect to see you here. Is there any news?"

"None concerning your brother. Pardon me, I was on my way out."

Sookie watched Alcide leave, and walked over to Eric. "What did he mean by that? Is there news not concerning Jason?"

Eric seated her and said, "A panther girl was attacked in Hot Shot this morning. Alcide believes it was probably a wolf acting on behalf of Mr. Gray taking revenge for the alleged rape. Alcide fears if the escalation continues it will lead to war between the wolves and panthers."

"Was she raped?"

"I believe not."

"Is she alright?"

"Alcide did not mention her state, Dearest. Calvin Norris is in the rolodex if you wish to call and inquire after her."

Eric folded his hands in his lap and looked on as Sookie reached for the rolodex and called Calvin. Far from relieving her, as she had hoped it would, it only served to upset her more than she already was.

"Eric, she was only thirteen," she said in a hollow voice.

"And did you determine her condition?"

"She's terrified but she seems to be uninjured."

"My love, you know better than anyone, being terrified can be an injury unto its self."

Sookie shivered at the memory of Gage Gordon. "Well, she's speaking and they seem to think she'll be alright, but Calvin's furious."

"As he should be. The situation is becoming very dangerous."

"Eric, I have to do something," she cried, "but I don't know what to do." She grasped his arm with both hands. "Please, my darling you always know what to do. Help me."

"You needn't plead, my love. I am told it is common knowledge I deny you nothing. Do you still believe in Jason's innocence?

"Absolutely"

"Then there is nothing you can do. You cannot give him up."

"But I have to do something!"

"No. We will do something together. After our meeting with the investigators, I will call Alcide and Calvin and ask them to meet with me tomorrow evening. I will broker a truce until the truth can be discovered. We will meet with the investigators every night and direct the search for the truth from here."

"How will you get them to agree to a truce?"

Eric chuckled and gave her his most charming smirk. "You may not have noticed this about me, Dearest, but I can be quite persuasive when the inclination strikes."

There was the smile he loved so and her giggle chimed through the air like a bell. "Yeah, I may have noticed something like that about you."

There was a knock at the door.

"There, you see. All settled just in time," he said reassuringly and kissed her hand. "Enter."

Ron and Wade came in and sat across the desk from Eric and Sookie. Ron carried a thick manila envelope holding copies of their notes and report. He placed the envelope on the desk and Eric pushed it aside.

"What do you have?" Eric asked.

Ron began. "As you requested, we didn't circulate photos but we did live interviews of about a hundred people around Lake Cross. I believe we can confidently tell you she had been going there pretty regularly for the past several months, maybe as much as six months.

She was sometimes seen alone and often in the company of a large man with dark hair. The descriptions put him from five to ten years older than her.

He was apparently living in a rental cabin at the lake. You know, the touristy, overnight sort of cabin. Basically a tent made of logs."

"You said was," Sookie injected.

"Yes. He's no longer there. No one has seen him for at least a week, maybe two. We've gone through them all. It's probably likely they've broken up. And he doesn't need the place any more.

"No. They haven't broken up," Sookie said. "We'd know if they had."

"How do you figure that?" Wade asked. "If you don't mind –"

"Silence!" Eric said with absolute authority. "I mind very much. How my wife figures anything is not your concern and I must insist you address her with the respect due her rank. To you, she is Lady Northman, should you need to speak to her." Turning to Sookie, he asked, "Why do you say we would know, my love?"

"Because she's a teenage girl. She's all hormones and emotions. And she's pregnant on top of all that. If she had broken up with the father of her baby, she'd be screaming it to anyone who would listen. She wouldn't be able to hold it in. And if he was the one who broke it off with her, then it would be even worse."

Sookie looked at Ron and Wade. "Believe me when I tell you, if there's one thing I'm an expert on, it's what goes on inside people's heads. It's kind of my specialty. If she and her boyfriend had broken up, she'd be very angry with him. She'd name him. I promise you she would. She wouldn't be able to help it."

"What else do you have in your report?" Eric asked.

Wade picked up the story. "We're in the process of developing a series of contacts who can provide us with information on the family and the comings and goings at the house.

Because of the way their neighborhood is set up, it's difficult to arrange surveillance without being obvious, so we're dependent on informants.

The girl rarely leaves the house and when she does, she is usually in the company of her mother.

Her father has taken a leave of absence from work and he mostly stays around the house.

"Why did he take leave?" Sookie asked.

"According to someone he works with, Lady Northman, he's doing some work for some politician. I guess whatever –"

Eric interrupted. "What?"

"We're not sure which political party or even which candidate, but we'll find out."

"Candidate," Eric repeated. "Is that your word or your informant's?"

Wade looked through his notes before he spoke. "According to the informant, Mr. Gray took a personal leave of absence to quote work with a candidate, unquote"

Eric addressed Sookie. "This is the problem working with human detectives. They know a little about vampires, but it has been too soon since the Weres made themselves known. They have not yet had time to learn.

When a lone wolf applies for membership in a pack, he appeals to the pack leader, then he is placed with a prominent pack family for a period of one month for evaluation on his suitability. During this evaluation period he is known as an applicant or a _candidate_. "

To Ron and Wade, he said, "The Weres have no interest in human politics. They have their own laws and societal system, just as we do. Your focus needs to be on that house. Find a rental property in the area so you have a reason to be there. Draw any funding from Bobby Burnham at Burnham Financial Services. I'll tell him to expect your call. We want to see you every night at nine. I will keep the time slot open for you."

"That's got to be him," Sookie said. "The candidate, he was a lone wolf staying in overnight cabins at the lake and she met him there. Then he applied for pack membership. They have everyone out looking for Jason except Gray, so he gets stuck playing host to the candidate." Sookie laughed at the absurdity of the situation. "They dropped her boyfriend right on her head. It would be funny if it wasn't a life and death situation."

"We need anything you can find out about the candidate," Eric said. "And anything else about anyone in that house. I want to know what they do, where they go, what they eat, anything."

"And we need it now," Sookie added. "Peoples lives are hinging on how quickly we can unravel Candia's secrets."

"Do you have anything else?" Eric asked.

"No, that's all for now."

"Then you may go. Be back tomorrow at nine.

The men left, leaving Sookie and Eric to mull this new information.

"I have to call Alcide," Sookie said.

"No."

"I have to tell him!"

"Tell him what, Dearest?"

"Who the father of Candia's baby is, of course."

"And how do you intend to identify this person to Alcide when you cannot identify him yourself?"

"I can go through everything with him just like we went through it and he'll understand."

"Dearest, I don't doubt his ability to comprehend your words, but do you seriously expect him to appreciate it when you tell him you have investigators spying on members of his pack? And in the unlikely event you could charm him into believing it was acceptable for us to have done this, what evidence would you offer for your accusation?"

"But it makes sense. It makes so much more sense than Jason."

"To you, my love, because you love him and know him. You are fighting against Jason being convicted by such a low threshold of evidence. Would you have another man convicted with nothing more?"

"Don't throw logic at me! They want to kill my brother!"

"And we will not allow that to happen. But we will prevent it by more honorable methods than throwing someone to the wolves without evidence."

"I think I could rip him to shreds him if he was here. I really do. I want to kill him."

"You'll learn to control that too. Or cover it up if you act."

"Doesn't anything rattle you? I talk about murdering a man and you act like it's nothing."

"You are a predator, my love. Should it upset me when a lioness kills a wildebeest?"

"That's different. I'm talking about a human."

"To-mA-to, to-mah-to."

"Oh, you're awful!" she laughed.

"And you are a delight. Tell me how your fencing is coming."

At the mention of fencing, Sookie deflated. "Ugh! I've never been more bored in my life. You wouldn't believe what he has us doing. I've never seen you do anything like it."

"Come." Eric led Sookie across the room and removed the two crossed sabers from the wall. He took both blades in one hand and laid the hilts over his other arm. "Choose."

She looked him in the eye, wrapped her fingers around the grip of a saber and drew it slowly across his arm.

"I am a warrior, madam," he teased. "You cannot seduce me when I am armed."

He tapped her blade with his. "Defend yourself."

He struck immediately, bringing the broadside of his blade down against her butt.

"Ouch!" she screamed, more in surprise than pain. She slashed at him and he easily avoided her. That made her angry. She tried and missed several more times until he grabbed her and held her, struggling against him as he laughed.

"Never strike in anger, Dearest."

"I'll strike you in anger alright," she sputtered from behind gritted teeth.

"I sincerely doubt it. Now be still, I didn't hurt you." He released her and said, "Do not attack this time." Again he took two steps back and tapped her blade. "Defend yourself."

He struck again, but this time from directly above her. His attack came straight down and she managed to swing and deflect his blade enough to awkwardly parry out of the way.

"Better. This time keep your weapon vertical and close to your chest. The shorter your swing the less energy you expend. Again."

They went through the same attack several times. Each time, Eric made comments and suggested minor adjustments.

"You see. Was that not fun?"

"Yes, but that's not what Devon does."

"Exactly the same, my love. The difference being Devon calls things by their proper names and no doubt spends a good deal of time correcting your stance and advising you to mind your highline."

"You've been watching?"

"I have numerous matters sufficiently tedious to bore me into a stupor without watching Devon prance about. I did however observe your demonstration with interest. You hold your weapon properly and you clearly know how to parry, though you need practice to not appear quite so naïve. Devon must be credited."

"So I have to go back to class?"

"You may do as you please, my love. But if you would consent to indulge me, I would prefer that you do."

"Will you help me practice sometimes?"

"Of course," he said with a smile.

Sookie sighed heavily. "Fine. I'll become a warrior. So what do warriors do after a battle?"

"That depends, have these warriors been victorious or defeated?"

"Oh, they've definitely been victorious. It was a brilliant victory."

Eric smiled brightly and said, "In that case, custom would dictate plundering and pillaging.

"Hmm." Sookie turned suddenly and ran to the door.

"I've frightened you away?"

"Not at all," she said with a radiant grin. "But if I'm going to be plundered and pillaged I'll need to feed and have my hair done first. I'll see you at home."

His laughter followed her all the way to the elevators.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Sanda came down the stairs and into the living room where Rafe and Conall were sitting. "She's quieted down now. I think she'll be alright. Thank goodness you were there to catch her when she fainted. Thank you, Conall."

"Luckily she fell in my direction. I'm glad she's feeling better," Conall responded, making every effort to be as charming as possible.

"She's never fainted before," Rafe said. He was slumped forward in his chair, staring at the floor. "Do you think this is the beginning of it? How long will it take?" He lifted his gaze to his wife, searching her face for clues of what was to come. But she had none to give.

"Rafe, I just don't know. I've never heard of fainting spells be –"

Sanda's words were silenced by Candia's screams.

Rafe responded at once. He bounded to the stairs and took them three at a time. He found his oldest child shaking violently in the center of her bed, her hands covered in blood.

"Daddy!" she shrieked. "Help me, please!"

When he lifted her, she cried out in pain and he saw the large blood stain on her bed. She nightgown was soaked through as well, but he ignored it. He was certain he knew what this meant.

He heard Sanda gasp and he turned to her. "Get some blankets and go start your car. Put the blankets in the back seat. I'll put her there." He cradled Candia as gently as he could as he carried her downstairs and she sobbed against him.

"Conall, take the blankets from Sanda and lay them out in the backseat of Sanda's car while she gets it started."

"Yes, sir, right away," Conall said. "And if you don't mind, I'd like to accompany you to the hospital, unless you think that would be too much of an intrusion.

"No, of course you must come with us," Sanda said. "Here," she added, handing over the blankets before hurrying out the door. Conall followed and Rafe was close behind.

~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~

"Enter."

Ausra stepped to the side of the desk as Calvin Norris came into the office and Eric stood to greet him.

"Good evening, Calvin. I am pleased you were able to join me on such short notice." Eric motioned toward the wet bar in the corner to his right. "Feel free to use the bar and make yourself comfortable. Alcide should be joining us momentarily."

He turned to Ausra. "That will be all for now. We will speak again after my meeting."

"Only the second Britlingen I've ever seen. Worth the trip into town, just for that." Calvin headed toward the corner. "Bar's a nice touch. Makes it seem more like we were invited and not ordered to be here."

"Indeed. Be that as it may, I trust we can discuss our common problem in a civil manner. Of course, you are free to leave at any time. However, the purpose of this meeting is to impart important information to you. Not having this information could potentially lead to furthering our problem and that would be desirable for no one."

Eric resumed his seat and waited quietly. Alcide arrived as Calvin, drink in hand, was about to sit. Overly polite niceties were exchanged and Alcide sat after declining a drink.

Eric's face gave nothing away. And when he spoke his voice was calm and paced, with no sense of urgency or import. "Calvin, how is the girl who was accosted at the lake?"

"Hard to believe you have any interest in that," Calvin scoffed.

"I don't," Eric said. "But my Queen is concerned with the well being of all her acquaintances. When I see her next, she will ask after the girl. If you prefer not to impart details to me, I will simply tell her to call you when she asks."

Calvin Norris was a practical man. So despite what most would have taken as insult, he appreciated the pure honesty of Eric's response. "She's gonna be fine. She has no physical injuries other than irritation in her eyes from the foam he covered her in."

"Has she seen a physician? Do her eyes require treatment?"

"Thank you, no. Her mother is tending to her," Calvin answered.

"Very well." Eric turned to Alcide. "And the Gray girl? I take it there are no changes in her story?"

"None to my knowledge."

"I see. Then we will proceed. Ten days ago a girl in Alcide's pack accused Jason Stackhouse, a male from Calvin's pack of assaulting her. By all accounts, Mr. Stackhouse has vanished into thin air and we are making every effort to recover him in hopes of determining his guilt or innocence.

A week ago there was a suspected act of revenge where someone suspected of being a wolf frightened a group of children in Hot Shot.

Yesterday a more serious attack took place in Hot Shot, where a young girl was stripped and thrown in a lake. Again, it is suspected a wolf is the responsible party.

It is time to end these revenge actions before they escalate into something more dangerous to both packs, which cannot be controlled.

"This is none of your concern, Eric," Alcide said. "You're overstepping your boundaries.

Eric stared directly into Alcide's eyes. "If I have boundaries, Mr. Herveaux, they are of my own design and their enforcement is certainly not left to you."

Calvin injected, "We can handle our own affairs. Don't you worry about it. We won't leave any bodies for you to have to clean up."

Eric adjusted his posture to again address them both. "Do not misinterpret my meaning gentlemen. It is of no consequence to me if you kill one another into extinction if that is your desire."

Eric's phone vibrated in his pocket. He ignored it and continued.

"What is of great concern to me however, is the comfortable transition of my Queen into her new position. The pressures of a new vampire are many. I will not see them compounded by your inability to maintain rational perspective.

This kingdom is my gift to her and peace within it will be preserved with or without your willing cooperation. All this tormenting of puppies and kittens will cease at once. I do not know which among your respective packs are the perpetrators and personally, I do not care, but for my Queen's sake, I will have order. She will be distressed by your tawdry tit for tat no further.

Effective immediately, travel between Caddo Parrish and Renard Parrish by Weres is uniformly forbidden."

Both Alcide and Calvin chafed in their seats. Their resentment boiled just beneath the surface as they each mentally ran through their options.

Eric took note of them and continued. "I am aware this is a great imposition on us all and every effort will be made for this interdiction to be of as short a duration as possible. This is not a full implementation of marshall law. The travel ban is the only restriction and no breaches will be tolerated. Punishment will be swift and severe. The penalty is death and enforcement will be carried out by the Britlingens."

Alcide spoke up. "You hired Britlingens?"

"At my invitation, they will be operating training facilities within my territories. I had hoped to first engage them in helping to resolve our evidence problems, however since I have been pressed into tending your responsibilities as well as my own, they will be employed as the buffer between you.

The search for Jason Stackhouse will continue, as will the ongoing endeavor to discover evidence in both assault complaints."

Eric sat down and laced his fingers in front of him. "Questions?"

"You don't have that authority, Eric," Alcide pointed out.

"I am prepared to enforce it, therefore I do. If you doubt my resolve, perhaps you should set an example for your pack and be first to attempt a breach. There will be no exception made for your rank."

Calvin leaned forward on his elbows. "If you keep us from Shreveport, you cut our access to vital services, shopping and what have you."

Eric's phone vibrated again. This time he reached into his pocket and looked down. Wade. "Excuse me gentlemen, I must take this call. It will be brief."

Over their objections, Eric exited his office in a hurry, leaving the two men staring after him. "Be quick," he said when he was well out of earshot from his office. "Put the building under surveillance. I'll call you back after my meeting." With that he snapped his phone closed and returned it to his pocket.

He was back in his seat before having been gone thirty seconds.

"As I was saying, before the interruption, in deference to the greater burden the travel ban places on your community, Mr. Norris, I have arranged for daily transportation to and from Baton Rouge. If you find this insufficient, call me and further accommodations can be arranged. If anyone has medical or other appointments already made in Shreveport, get me a list and a Britlingen escort will be arranged."

"How long do you intend to keep us penned in?" Alcide asked bitterly.

"You are not penned in. You may go anywhere you wish, with the exception of Renard Parrish. As for time frame, as long as it takes to get to the bottom of the claims of a little girl. This is not Salem."

Alcide's cell phone rang now. As he reached he reached for the carrier clipped to his belt, he looked curiously at Eric.

Expressionless, Eric said, "Busy night for us all, I see."

~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~

"So what are you wearing tonight, Shana?"

Sookie watched Shana's reflection in the mirror as she blushed. It was gonna take some work to bring this girl out of her shell.

Shana twisted another curl into place and said, "Oh, I might just stay here and get my room tidied up or something. I wouldn't want to be in the way."

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course you're joining us. Oliver and Ausra are both busy tonight, so we're sneaking out of here without guards. Eric will be furious," Sookie giggled. "So everyone comes with me." Poor shy Shana, her mind was spinning. She needed a little nudge, so Sookie nudged her. "Unless of course you'd rather be the one left here to answer Eric when he asks why no one called him when I left without guards?"

"No!" Shana cried. Then recovering her composure quicker than Sookie would have thought, she added, "I'm sure I have something to wear. Mina took me shopping. I kept telling her to stop, but she just kept grabbing things and telling me to try things on."

"Isn't Mina lovely? I don't know what I'd do without her. There, I think my hair is fine. You go put on something fabulous and we'll take Fangtasia by storm."

An hour later when Sookie and her entourage of Mina, Genevieve, Shana and Karen got to the lobby, they were shocked to find themselves being met by an escort.

"Good evening, Your Majesty. I'm Tyler. Burton and I will be providing security for your party this evening."

"Who sent you?" Sookie asked, a little annoyed.

"We work for Sheriff Ravenscroft, but I believe we were sent here on orders of the King."

"Of course you were." Sookie sighed and trudged out to get in the limo.

Before getting out at Fangtasia, Sookie tied a blue ribbon loosely around Karen's wrist. When Karen looked confused, Mina explained. "To cover the marks. Feeding on the bar property is against the law, so if she feeds while we're here and you suddenly have something covering your wrist, people will notice. But if you go in with a big bow on your wrist, people will notice it right away. That way later, if the bow is covering anything, it won't draw attention because you were wearing it all along."

The bustle of Fangtasia seemed so tame now, when compared to the organized chaos of The Asgard. Sookie's table was arranged and she asked to have Pam notified she was there.

"They're whispering about you too," Sookie said to Shana. "They think you look great and they're jealous."

Shana was clearly uncomfortable at this high profile table. "They're probably just surprised I'm not in a corner at the front. That's where I usually sit."

"Not any more," Sookie said with a smile. "After tonight you'll be able to come in here any time you like and be the center of attention."

"I don't know about that," Shana responded, turning several shades of red in the process.

"I do," Sookie assured her as their waitress arrived at their table to get their drink orders. Sookie noticed as Shana's eyes went to a table near the bar several times. One of Shana's former clients, sitting with a fairly good looking man. The man was curious about all the fuss over Sookie and her group and the woman was explaining to him who Sookie was. The woman was also seething with jealousy over Shana having a seat at the table.

"May I bring you a True Blood, Your Majesty?" the waitress asked. "Or we have Royalty in the storage cooler if you prefer."

"Oh heavens, no," Sookie said with a giggle. "Don't bring out the Royalty unless Dracula himself drops by. Yeah, I suppose bring me a True Blood, any type is fine."

"Sookie!" Pam shouted as she approached the table with Heller walking half a step behind and looking more nervous than Sookie had ever seen him. Sookie started to have a peek at him, but was distracted by Pam continuing. "Don't you look majestic sitting there surrounded by your ladies-in-waiting and two guards standing stoically behind you like posed watch dogs? I would accuse you of slumming, but that would hardly be fair since I invited you."

"Yes," Sookie responded. "You invited me. And was that before or after you ratted me out?"

"After of course, I talked to Eric and he said to talk to you, so I called you and here we are, talking. He told me your regular guards were being used elsewhere tonight and I would have to provide security if you came out." Pam appeared very pleased with herself. She looked around the table and settled on Shana. "I've seen you here before. You do hair, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," Shana answered timidly.

"Sheriff," Pam corrected before moving on to Karen and noticing the ribbon on her wrist. "And look at this, she comes to a buffet and brings her own snack. I'm not sure I know what to think about that. Sookie?"

Sookie looked Pam directly in the eye. "Karen is here to dance and have fun, just like we all are. But in the process, I wouldn't want anyone to be confused about her availability."

Pam clapped her ands together. "Speaking of availability, that's exactly what I need to talk to you about. It seems I have one pet too many at my house. Your little French charmer there," Pam pointed at Genevieve, "has made Heller absolutely useless to me. I offered him to Eric, but he rarely has any need of a valet, not often enough to keep one anyway. He suggested I offer him to you, since the girl is yours."

"Genevieve is an employee, not a pet," Sookie said.

Pam looked at Genevieve and smiled wickedly. "No, she's a pet. She may not have admitted it to herself yet, and you two may tell each other she's an employee, but try to fire her. She'd be on her knees in a puddle of tears promising to do anything, and begging you to let her stay, in a matter of seconds." Pam leaned over the table toward Genevieve. "Wouldn't you, dear?"

"I enjoy working in the Queen's household," Genevieve said nervously.

"Yes, yes, of course you do and I imagine you're about to start enjoying it a lot more," Pam said dismissively. She looked back at Sookie. "So will you take him or not? He fights with Talon all day and mopes around all night. I can't just throw him out on the street, he's a very good boy when he's happy, he knows Eric very well and little miss, oh she's not a pet, over there would no doubt be grateful to have him around."

"Genevieve, you understand that if Heller comes to live with us, his time will not be yours. His duties may include escorting any of the other ladies doing my business. Your relationship with him may be a consideration in bringing him to the household, but once he's there, he becomes a fixture, with rights, which would actually outweigh your own, since his status would be that of a pet. If you have any questions or concerns, now is the time to speak."

"I don't have any questions."

"Very well." Sookie reached out a hand to Heller. He took it and knelt in front of her. "Get up, Heller. We've known each other too long for that. Do you want to leave Pam?"

"My Mistress has been very good to me."

Pam looked from Heller to Sookie. "You've got to be kidding me. Are you trying to attract unicorns? Heller. Look at me. If you come home with me, you have to stop fighting with Talon and stop schlepping around the house like you're going to die any minute or I'll arrange just that for you. Or you can go home with Sookie and work for her and Eric and make cow eyes at their cook all day." She stopped and laughed. "You really couldn't do that, could you? Well, I suppose you could make cow eye at her. Choose."

"I'll go home with the Queen if she'll have me."

"Of course she'll have you. Now why don't you two go be insipid in a booth someplace so we don't have to look at you." Pam turned to Sookie and smiled. "I'll never understand why you insist on complicating things which are perfectly simple."

Sookie couldn't help but laugh. "You're dreadful, Pam. But you do have a way of getting right to the point"

"Thank you. And you better learn to get to the point too, or when you start hearing petitions you'll be stuck in an office for hours listening to things you should be wrapping up in minutes before they drive you mad." Pam glanced over her shoulder at Karen and Shana. "Do you two just sit around like garden gnomes? Do something. Go dance."

"I believe they're shy," Sookie offered.

"Well, we can fix that." Pam motioned for a waitress. "Mina, are you dancing this evening, or would Oliver not approve?"

"Oliver would not mind, Sheriff, but thank you, no."

"Very well." When the waitress arrived Pam lowered her voice to speak to her. "Shelly, we need two gentlemen to dance with two of Her Majesty's ladies."

Sookie added to Shelly's instructions. "The one at the table near the bar for Shana, I believe. That one sitting with the girl in the pink blouse."

"Oh my god," Shana whispered to herself.

Sookie reached out and put a hand over Shana's. "It's alright. It's just a dance, I'm not selling you into an arranged marriage. Besides, his date looks like she could be brought down a peg or two, don't you think?"

Shana just snickered and blushed a little at the thought.

When Shana and Karen had been herded off to dance, Pam reached for Sookie. "Shall we? I know you haven't had a decent dance since your turning."

"Eric and I danced for hours just the other night," Sookie said with a laugh.

"And he does an amazingly sexy rumba and his tango is flawless. In fact almost everything he does on the dance floor is flawless. He's a wonderful dancer. I have no doubt he could fox trot or minuet someone to death and never miss a step.

Come dance with me Sookie. Dance like he's watching, not like he's dancing with you. Let's see what you can do now."

"How could I possibly refuse you, with an invitation like that?"

"It's part of my charm," Pam smirked.

"You have charm?" Sookie asked as they stepped onto the dance floor.

"I must. Tonight, I'm dancing with a queen. Let's shiver," Pam said with a huge smile. "Maroon 5, Shiver," she shouted to the DJ.

It was fun to dance with Pam again. They thrilled the onlookers in Fangtasia for a solid hour before Sookie took a break to show Karen where the offices were in the back.

When they got back from their tour, Sookie left Karen at the table with Mina and ordered her a large glass of juice. "And get her something to eat," Sookie instructed. "Karen, dear, tell them what you want to eat. They'll get you anything. Mina, if you or anyone else is hungry make sure they order something as well."

"Thank you, Mistress," Mina replied.

Sookie strutted onto the dance floor and pulled the male partner dancing with Pam away. "Last Dance With Mary Jane," she shouted.

Pam threw her head back and laughed heartily and hugged Sookie tight. "Baby sister! I knew you'd come round."

~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~

"The sun has set. Your friend will be here soon," came the voice from the other side of the wall.

"He ain't my friend," Jason grumbled as he paced impatiently across the length of his room.

"Your room is larger than mine. I can tell from your pacing. You clomp."

"A cage is a cage, it don't matter – shhh, be quiet now." Jason heard the familiar gait of the vampire who came to visit every night.

The outside flap on the grate in the door flipped open. "Step away from the door," came the deep voiced command.

Jason stepped back and the door opened and his guest entered. The heavy metal door slammed behind him.

"Good evening, Jason," the guest said. "I've brought you some things."

"You got a piece of ass in that bag? I sure could use one. I ain't used to having to serve myself quite so regular, if you know what I mean."

The vampire chuckled as he sat the bag down on the table. "I promise. If you're here much longer, I'll arrange that for you."

"Hey, I've been in here too long already and I don't even know what for. If you're gonna keep me here don't you think it would be fair to at least say why?"

Jason walked to the table to see what was in the bag tonight. It contained a tightly closed container of barbequed chicken and smoked sausage and another of potato salad. At the bottom of the bag, were two six-packs of beer.

"I never heard of a jail that let's you have beer," Jason said as he removed a can and popped it open.

"You're not in jail. You're in protective custody." The vampire took his usual seat at the table. "Shall we play cards this evening?"

"I'm sick of playing cards," Jason complained. "Why am I in protective custody? What did I do?"

"I don't know. I was instructed to go to an address, pick up a man from another vampire and bring him here. So, that's what I did."

"You mean, you didn't even know who you were supposed to pick up? Maybe I'm the wrong guy! Maybe you were supposed to pick up someone else. You could've gone to the wrong house."

He chuckled again. "I could have, but I didn't. How man addresses do you suppose there are where I could show up in the middle of the night and a vampire I didn't know would hand over a human man I didn't know and then vanish into the night? I never was much of a mathematician, but I'm thinking that's gotta be a fairly low number."

"So you just do as you're told and fly around picking up strangers and babysitting them in a non-jail where they're locked in?"

"That's what I do, Jason. What I'm told. I was told to keep you where I would know where you were twenty four/seven. I was told to keep you safe twenty four/seven. Above all, I was told to keep you alive at all costs.

Those are my orders. That's it, plain and simple. But it may have occurred to you that I have a slight disadvantage with that whole twenty four/seven thing, since in the summer I will quick fry to a crackly crunch during about fourteen of those twenty four hours.

That limits my options. I really am sorry, but there just aren't many places I could put you where I know you'll be safe during the day, when I can't be around to personally see to your safety."

"Dude, I told you, I know people –"

"Stop, Jason. You know if you continue I'll have to leave. We're on a first name basis. That's all I need to know. What's on TV tonight?"

"The clicker's over by the bed." Jason was seated at the table and stuffing his face with chicken. "This has got to be as boring for you as it is for me, dude," Jason said as the vampire walked across the room to get the TV remote from the bedside table.

"No more boring than most other things. I could be taking piano lessons. One thing, it you don't mind. I prefer not to be called, dude."

"Sure thing, Ferdinand it is. Do have a nickname or anything shorter you go by?"

"My mother used to call me Nandy, but she passed away when I was very young."

"Wow, sorry du- uhh, Ferdinand. That sounds like something a mother would call a kid. I wonder why mothers do that? Call kids things that seem designed to get their asses kicked." Jason finished off a chicken leg, tossed the bone back in the bag and took a big drink of beer.

Ferdinand was lost in thought. His mother could call him anything if he could see her again.

"I think I'd like a big, thick, juicy steak tomorrow. If you can't get me laid."

"I'll see if can arrange for someone to contribute the services of a willing pet. Would you prefer female or male?"

Jason choked on a bite of smoked sausage. "God damn, Ferdinand! Way to ruin a guy's appetite," he stammered as he spat out bits of sausage into a napkin. "Do I look like I fuck guys?"

"I had hoped to be rid of you before learning your sexual habits," Ferdinand said from behind a smile. "As it is, I'll see what I can do."

~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~

Sookie found Eric at the piano when she came into the apartment. She walked over and stood behind him.

"I am pleased to see you home again. Did you have a good time this evening?"

"Mmm" was all Sookie responded. She was spellbound watching his hands move along the keys.

"You brought Heller with you, I see. I suppose it is good we live in a hotel."

"I don't know why you didn't just tell Pam to send him over. You know I wouldn't keep him away if he wanted to come here.

I didn't know you played."

Eric laughed and spun round on his seat, catching her in his arms and offering her a lovely smile. "Were I proficient, I would not feel it necessary to restrict my playing to times I was without an audience."

"I was enjoying watching you play," she said as she leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"You see? If I were skilled, you have enjoyed listening to me play," he retorted with a playful smile.

"Oh, you know that's not what I meant. And I suppose you thought it was terribly clever of you to have guards waiting for me when I tried to leave here this evening?"

"You must not deny me my small amusements, my love. And you didn't try to leave, you left quite successfully, were you impeded in any way?"

"No, they were very nice."

"That is as it should be. I do not want you sneaking about unprotected, my love. It is unseemly for a woman of your rank."

"I took four people with me when I left. I wasn't alone."

Eric took Sookie's hand and turned it in his, examining her palm as if he'd never seen it before. "And which of these human girls would have come to your defense if needed?" he asked, without looking away from her hand.

"I'm sure Mina would defend me."

"Oh, I'm certain Mina would die in your defense, my love." He looked up into her eyes. "The problem is she would die too quickly. I ask very little of you, Sookie. I beg you do not defy me in this matter. Do as you please, but do it with your security in place."

She brushed his hair away from his face and smiled. "Why did I have to fall in love with such a charming vampire?"

He had won. He returned her smile and stood. "Clearly you pleased the fates, Dearest. There is no other possible explanation. Now, come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"Only to the bookshelf, I have a gift for you."

They crossed the room and Eric ceremoniously took down a box from the top of the black lacquer shelf. It was a beautiful carved wood box, about a foot and a half long and six inches wide. He held it in front of him." Open it," he said with a grin.

Sookie reached forward, placing a hand on either side of the hinged lid and slowly opened the box. Inside was a dagger with an odd shaped jeweled handle almost as long as the blade. "It's beautiful," she said.

"It is called a Kattari. It is a largely ceremonial blade of an Indian goddess. Is it not fitting the goddess of Asgard weild such a weapon? Take it. See how it feels in your hand."

"Sookie looked up at Eric and hesitated before she spoke. "If I pick up this knife does it mean anything?"

"It means you will be armed."

Sookie snorted. "But it doesn't mean we're divorced or taking on more wives or anything like that?"

You could see the effort to retain his laughter behind his smile, but it would not be held. "My love, I adore you like nothing I have ever seen. Wild horses, nor seductresses nor the gods will ever wrest me from your side.

Unless you are an Indian goddess, there is nothing ceremonial in the giving or receiving of this blade. It is merely a gift from your most ardent worshipper."

"Are you sure?"

"You have my word," he chuckled.

Sookie lifted the dagger from the box. It was surprisingly light. The handle was an **H** shape with the crossbar serving as the grip and the sides of the **H** extended above her wrists.

She moved her hand around, testing it for comfort. "It's very elegant."

"It suits you. I believe you will find the bar grip easier to control, so it will stay in your hand rather than the floor. And the extended guards protect your wrists as well as provide you with added ability to deflect a blow with your off hand."

"Pretty and practical," she said, still admiring her gift.

"Exactly. Enjoy them together when you can, but when forced to choose between the two, always choose practical."

"Was I a practical choice?"

"In every respect which matters. Fortunately for me, you are also beautiful. I offer thanks to the gods daily for that luxury."

"And what if I hadn't let you turn me? What if I had grown old and craggy?

Eric put an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. "I would like to believe you would have always appeared to my eyes as you are today. I cannot imagine ever looking at you and seeing anything other than my beautiful Sookie."

"She squeezed him tight. "You really are unforgivably charming."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Rafe and Conall sat in silence, in the freshly painted waiting area of Dr. Ludwig's clinic.

The paint added nothing to the sterile feel of the space. There was no artwork or murals adorning the walls, no clever architecture or aquariums to distract you from the knowledge of why you were here.

There was no avoiding it. There was something about the pale green hues and this particular shade of off-white, which assaulted the eye from every direction, screaming of impending tragedy, allowing no lapse into comforting thoughts of recovery or healing.

Rafe's head hung low as he stared at his hands and the floor beneath them. Each time he looked up it was as if the building its self accused him; sat in judgment of him. The cold walls seemed to close in tight around him demanding payment for his crimes.

His little girl lay in a room nearby, bleeding and in pain, her small body possibly dying in a desperate attempt to protect his first grandchildren.

What had he done? How had he reacted? Had he wrapped her in his love and consoled her when he discovered her condition?

No. He had been furious rather than comforting. He had literally dragged her before the council and subjected her to public humiliation. He had ranted and raved and blamed her for things far beyond her ability to consider. And worst, worst of all, he had wished her ill. He had wanted her to miscarry; felt it would serve to punish her for putting herself in the position of ruining his plans.

His plans. He couldn't even remember them now. What could they possibly have been to be worth this price? To be worth his baby; his firstborn; his beautiful Candia? The weight of his regret was more than he could bear. He buried his face in his hands and for the first time since his mother died when he was ten, Rafe Gray cried.

"Mr. Gray."

The touch of the small hand on his shoulder startled him out of his bog of self-pity. He jerked upright and saw Dr. Ludwig standing at his side, his instinct to stand himself was overcome by the fact that he was now almost eye-to-eye with her. "Is she dead?"

"No," Dr. Ludwig answered. There was no consolation in her voice. "But it is certainly a possibility she could be before too long if we're not very careful with her. Your daughter is seriously ill, Mr. Gray. Her pregnancy is taking a significant toll on her body and her babies are in serious danger."

"But they're alive? All three of them?" Rafe stared intently at Dr. Ludwig, every second dragging into what seemed like hours as he waited for her response. Had Rafe not been so anxious and focused, he might have noticed Conall, who was standing and also devoting his full attention to Dr. Ludwig. The intensity of his interest might have struck a disinterested onlooker as strange, coming from someone so supposedly unconnected to this family only two weeks ago.

As it was, Rafe listened as Dr. Ludwig explained what his family was facing.

"I've done an exam and an ultra-sound. Candia has a condition called placenta previa. It's fairly rare, but it happens more often in multiple pregnancies. It's when the uterus doesn't properly draw the placenta up as things progress and it is left partially covering the cervical opening.

What that means is, we will admit her into the clinic so we can see that she is resting properly and has as little stress as possible. The bleeding has stopped for now. We will do everything we can to keep it under control.

I've started her on IV steroids for the babies to help spur their lung development. They're going to come early and they will have to be delivered by cesarean. The better shape their lungs are in, the better their chances for survival."

"But they're all gonna live?" Rafe pushed.

"I'm a doctor, Mr. Gray, not a fortune teller. Right now, I'm fairly certain Candia will go home when this is over. The question is, will she be taking her babies when she leaves? If they're born in the next twenty-four hours, I'd say probably not, but every day that we can keep her calm and still, their chances improve. I can't give you anything more solid than that."

"Is that the only testing you did?" Conall asked. "Just the ultra-sound?"

Dr. Ludwig squinted up at him. "Are you in the medical profession?"

"No," Conall answered, subduing the urgency in his tone. "I was just curious to know if everything possible was being done for her."

"I'm curious," she replied. "How long have you known Miss Gray that you have such a keen curiosity about her condition?"

"So did she need other testing?" Rafe asked. His concern was such that he had only registered the mention of further testing.

Dr. Ludwig ignored Conall and returned her attention to Rafe. "Only common and necessary blood work and measurements. I believe your wife is going to stay with her, so you can go home now."

"But I want to see her," Rafe protested.

"Not today, Mr. Gray. Give her twenty-four hours without any confrontation, then we'll see after that. She needs complete rest."

"There won't be any confrontation. You have my word. Just let me see her. I need to know she's alright."

"I've told you, Mr. Gray. She isn't alright. But she's as alright as we can make her for the moment. If you want her to remain alright, you'll do as I say and go home. If she sees you now, the confrontation in her mind will cause as much stress as any actual confrontation you might be imagining. You say you need to see her, but I need her as stress free as possible and right now, what I need carries more weight."

"But –"

"No buts, Mr. Gray. Candia stays and you go." Dr. Ludwig glanced up at Conall, then back to Rafe. "And take that one with you."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Eric came out of his dressing room fully clothed and on the phone. "I agree. No point in moving now. – If you have everything you need, it is best we wait. – Very well."

"Anything wrong?" Sookie asked as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and reached for her brush on the bedside table. Though her back was to him, she could feel him watching as she sat there, naked on the side of the bed brushing her hair.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," he replied at length. "Will you be joining me to meet with the Britlingens later?"

"Are they all here now? Is Saule here? I expected her to come here when she crossed, but I guess she needed to see to the others before visiting."

"I understand Saule is not yet with the others. She is to join them at some later date. It seems she had another assignment to complete before assuming command of the new training facility."

"How disappointing. I was looking forward to seeing her again. Any word on how long this other assignment will take?"

"I do not know."

"Well, who's gonna be in charge of the training then?"

"Ausra will be in charge until Saule arrives. Thus she will be unavailable to you. She is making potential selections for your security force. We are to meet with them tonight at eleven."

"Where?"

"The main conference room at The Asgard. We will have our standing meeting with Wade and Ron at nine in my office, and go from there."

"Have they called with any news about Candia? Did she miscarry?"

"She is still in the clinic. I do not think they are yet certain if she has miscarried or not."

"Well, they need to take advantage of her being in a public place. In fact we should take advantage as well. We should go over there. I wouldn't need to be in the same room with her." Sookie stopped brushing her hair and turned around to face Eric.

"Absolutely not. If there is anything to be discovered there, we have people assigned the responsibility of discovering it. A woman who would be recognized by every person in the building does not skulk about in hospital corridors searching for clues."

"But Eric, I could –"

"No."

"But –"

"Sookie, I do not wish to argue over this."

"And obviously you don't want to discuss it either." She stood up, went to her dressing room and slammed the door behind her.

He didn't follow.

As usual, the living area fell silent when Eric came out. Mina and Shana got up from their seats and headed toward the bedroom, but he stopped them. "Not now, ladies. Your mistress has been angered this evening. We should let Oliver visit her first. Oliver."

Oliver nodded and left the apartment.

"Mina," Eric said, "Barring a severe injury, I do not want anyone from this household going to Dr. Ludwig's clinic this week. If anyone should suggest going there, they should be discouraged. Am I quite clear?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"In the event someone should need a physician for a minor injury or illness, notify me at once and I will arrange for Dr. Ludwig to be brought here."

"I understand," Mina said with a nod.

"Very good," he said before walking to the window and staring out into the night. He stood there until Oliver came back with a donor in tow.

"Mina, she is expected for a meeting in my office at nine. Good evening, everyone."

After Eric left and Oliver took the donor into the bedroom, Shana grabbed Mina's arm. Her eyes were wide and confused as she whispered, "What just happened?"

"A pregnant wolf girl accused the Queen's brother of rape. She says he is the father. The girl was put into Dr. Ludwig's clinic last night. I assume the Mistress wants to go to the clinic to try and see the girl and the Master has told her not to do it and she's angry. Because she's angry, Oliver is taking her a donor before we go in there."

"So the King waited for Oliver to take her a donor?" Shana asked.

"He waited to make sure she didn't come out before Oliver got back with the donor. For our protection." Mina went into the kitchen to grab a soda while they waited for Sookie to feed.

Sookie was still pouting when Mina and Shana came into her dressing room.

"Good evening, Mistress," Mina said, with a big smile and a cheerful tone. "Will we be attending the fencing lesson this evening or would you like me to cancel?"

"Don't cancel. I want to fight with someone," Sookie replied sullenly.

Sookie chose a lime green Tee coupled with a flared skirt with plenty of movement and Shana did her hair in a quick French braid so it would hold up through her lesson and still be cute when she went to The Asgard. Minimal make-up and they were ready to go downstairs.

When they came out of the bedroom, Heller was in the kitchen with Genevieve. Apparently there was a lesson in vegetable chopping in progress.

Despite her general irritation tonight, Sookie couldn't help but smile when she saw them together. It was almost comical. The once beautiful Heller, so broad and big, his scarred face with its patched eye tilted downward toward the counter as tiny little Genevieve scolded him for making a mess of her fresh vegetables.

"Shall we go, Mistress?" Oliver asked.

"I suppose," Sookie sighed. She took the box containing her new dagger off the bookshelf and joined Mina and Oliver for the walk downstairs.

As expected, Devon was waiting, just as jovial as ever. He always struck Sookie as an actor who was always slightly overplaying his part. Everything he did or said was a little too polite or too happy or too something.

"Good evening ladies. If you will arm yourselves, we'll get right to it," Devon said, over articulating each of the 't's.

Sookie carried the box containing her new dagger to the table and opened it.

"A kattari, a very elaborate weapon, Mistress," Devon observed as he stood and admired the dagger.

"It was a gift from my husband. He thought it might be easier for me to keep from dropping this kind of dagger," Sookie explained.

"Yes, excellent choice," Devon said. "From most angles the 'H' grip allows you to take a more forceful blow with less strength. And of course it offers your wrist more protection. May I?"

"Of course," Sookie said. She watched as Devon carefully lifted the dagger from its case.

"A very elegant weapon indeed." Devon turned it over in his hand and ran his finger along the length of the blade before positioning the dagger on the tip of his middle finger and extending his hand to Sookie. "Perfectly balanced. The King knows a fine blade."

Sookie snatched the knife from Devon's hand. "The King knows everything. Haven't you heard?"

Devon was left to wonder about the cause of Sookie's anger. But she seemed to be channeling her feelings into more focus tonight and he made a point of mentioning it several times.

"There are those who will tell you to fight with no emotion. This is not correct. Raw emotion is the very essence of the fight. But you must not allow the emotion to overcome you and dictate your action. Strike with anger, but never in anger.

"Now you sound like Eric," Sookie complained. "You sound like you're describing a painting, saying things that sound very pretty but don't make a bit of sense to anybody."

"Blades down and relax, please." Devon's entire persona took on a more intense presence as he spoke. "To fight with a blade is to look your enemy directly in the eye and both threaten and invite death. It is among the most intimate and passionate things you will ever do.

Picture your emotions as a red mist. All emotions, fear, hate, love, lust, anger are powerful forces. If you are 'in' the mist, surrounded by it, it impedes you and clouds your judgment. In the mist, you will flail about aimlessly. If you are making war in the mist, you will surely lose, because your vision will be obstructed your goals will be unclear and you will miss your target. Just as if you make love in the mist, you will lack coordination and focus, you will risk injury or actions which will lead to the satisfaction of no one.

However, when you internalize your emotions, all of that raw energy becomes a part of you. It becomes a force you can direct. Now you can strike 'with' anger, or fear, or passion. When you master that, my queen, you will become a force not to be denied.

Now, blades up."

The remainder of the lesson flew by and Sookie lost her dagger only once. She'd gotten over her ill temper, at least for the moment, and happily signed autographs for the few people who approached her on the walk to The Asgard.

"I think that lesson went very well, don't you, Oliver?"

"He is very good, Mistress."

"Do you really think so? I thought you thought you were a lot better than him?"

"I am, Mistress. My skills with a blade are surpassed by few, alas I was not gifted with the patience to teach."

"I imagine Eric thinks he could beat you."

"I have no doubt he could. I have seen him fight. The Norseman is legend. None but a fool would challenge him without an army at his back."

Good grief, she thought. If Eric had been listening to people spew crap like that about him for centuries, no wonder he was so arrogant.

When Sookie entered Eric's office, Wade and Ron were already there. They stood along with Eric to greet her.

"There you are, my love. Did your lesson go well this evening?"

"Very well, thank you," she answered, allowing him to take her hand, kiss it and guide her to her seat. "Even Oliver was impressed with his ability to teach tonight."

"Was he? I may join you for class one evening to see if your sword master impresses me."

"Why?" Sookie giggled. "To watch me or show off?"

"Perhaps a bit of both," he said with a smirk. "Now to business. Gentlemen, what do you have to report?"

Ron spoke first tonight. "We have rented a house just down the street from the Gray home. Since they are at the end of a cul-de-sac, we have an excellent line of sight to the front of their house.

Of course today there has been increased activity to the house, but it has all been known family and friends. Female relatives bring food to the men, since the mother has been staying with the girl at the clinic.

The girl was taken to the clinic last night by her parents and the applicant, Conall Bayer is his name. Mr. Bayer and the father stayed just over 3 hours then returned to the family home."

"Was Mr. Bayer ever alone with Candia?" Sookie asked.

"No ma'am. As far as we can tell, once Miss Gray was in the clinic, neither Mr. Bayer nor Mr. Gray ever saw her."

"What have you been able to find out about this Conall Bayer?" Eric asked.

"Very little actually. He claims to be from central Europe, but we can't find anyone who recalls him saying exactly where. It's like he simply materialized at the lake."

"And Candia has had no visitors? No friends? Only her mother," Sookie asked. "That seems so strange."

"It's our understanding the doctor has restricted visitors. Only the mother is allowed."

"I see," Sookie said, more to herself than the investigator. "I guess that really wouldn't have worked then."

"Excuse me?" Ron asked her.

"Nothing," Sookie whispered.

Eric gave her hand a gentle squeeze and lifted it to his lips.

Ron and Wade droned on for what seemed like hours, though it really couldn't have been more than a few minutes. They had nothing useful to add. Candia was in the hospital and possibly miscarrying and that was bad for Jason because if he was the father everyone expected her to miscarry. No good news tonight.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Candia woke to her mother's face, quietly sitting beside her. She'd forgotten how comforting that was. Suddenly her memories of childhood came flooding back and she could remember curling up next to her mother and feeling she was in the safest place on Earth. "Was I asleep for long?" she asked. She was surprised by how weak her voice sounded.

"Not too long," Sanda said with a smile. She reached over and brushed Candia's hair out of her eyes. "How do you feel?"

"Better." She lifted the light blanket covering her and looked at the straps encircling her belly.

"One belt wouldn't catch both heartbeats," Sanda said. "Not even here and they're competing already."

"Both," Candia breathed. "They're alright." She took a deep breath and sank back into the pillow. "I was so scared."

"You gave us all a fright. Your father was very upset."

Candia cringed at the thought of her father. Yes, Conall had told her just how upset her father was. She shuddered and pulled the covers up under her chin. "Is Daddy here?"

"Dr. Ludwig sent him home. You're stuck with just me." Sanda smiled reassuringly and patted her daughter's hand.

Candia relaxed and looked around her room. It was a two patient room, but Candia was the only patient here now and she occupied the bed closest to the wide window. The two sides of the room mirrored each other, with each having a small table with a drawer and a shelf beside the bed and a narrow closet built into the opposite wall. In fact, the two sides of the room were exact mirror opposites, except for a metal linen shelf, neatly stacked with clean towels, sheets and blankets, standing diagonally in the corner, at the foot of Candia's bed.

Like the rest of the clinic, there were no pictures or decorations of any kind, but unlike the rest of the clinic walls, these were very different colors, the lower half was pale blue and the upper half was a bubblegum pink. Dr. Ludwig was such a strange little woman. This must be what passed for appropriate colors for a maternity room to her.

No sooner had Candia thought of Dr. Ludwig than there was a sharp rap on the door and Dr. Ludwig entered carrying a syringe.

"Good, you're awake. Mrs. Gray, would you mind waiting for us outside?" Dr. Ludwig said bruskly. It wasn't a question.

"Yes. Yes, of course, doctor. What are you giving her?" Sanda asked as she got up and gathered her purse. "I'll just go down to the vending machine. Candia, would you like a drink?"

Candia shook her head, indicating no to the drink.

"Something to help her relax," the doctor answered.

"But she only woke up a minute ago," Sanda said.

"It won't make her sleep."

When the door had closed behind Sanda, Dr. Ludwig put the syringe on the bedside table and stood next to the head of the bed. She looked directly into Candia's eyes as she spoke.

"Candia, I need you to understand something. I am in charge of your medical care and I will do everything I can to see that you and your babies are kept as healthy as possible. My only interest is your health and the health of your babies, and I will do my best for you.

In order for me to do my best, I need the best, most complete and most accurate information possible from you. The better the information I have, the better job I can do for you. If you give me false information, it could cause me to not do what is best for you."

Candia listened in silence as the doctor went through the same information she had given to Rafe earlier. Candia tried to act as though she was not impacted by the news, but she couldn't prevent the monitor standing by the bed from registering her blood pressure and heart rate which both began to increase.

Dr. Ludwig looked at the monitor. "You have the good sense to be worried. So you understand what I'm saying to you. That's good."

"Yes, I understand." Candia whispered, keeping her eyes on the doctor.

"I'm going to keep you here and keep you from delivering for as long as possible, but I'm afraid it won't be very long. Sometime soon we are going to be forced to deliver your babies. They are going to be very pre-mature and will need a lot of attention and help to survive. In order to know how much help they will need, it is extremely important that I know how old they are.

Do you understand the question?"

Candia stared at Dr. Ludwig and her eyes began to redden as her thoughts raced in circles trying to decide what to say.

"I see," Dr. Ludwig sighed. "Let me make this easier for you. You've told your parents, and everyone else apparently, you were attacked at the beginning of February and the attack resulted in your pregnancy. I have no idea whether or not you were attacked, but I do know you didn't get pregnant in February. And I suspect you know that too."

Candia's eyes grew wide and swelled with tears, but still she didn't speak.

"I've recalculated the measurements three times, Candia. The babies are much too big to have been conceived that late. It had to have been early January at least, maybe even late December."

Candia gasped and slapped her hands over her mouth. Her crying morphed into lurching sobs as Dr. Ludwig continued.

"If your babies were conceived in February, their lungs are still very underdeveloped. If you deliver them now, there is a very good chance I won't be able to save them."

Candia made a small squeaking noise and tightened her hands on her mouth.

"If however, they were conceived in January, they have a much better chance. They will require a lot of intense care, but my clinic is well equipped enough to give them a good chance. Of course, December would be even better.

I won't tell anyone Candia. It isn't my job to reveal secrets. My job is to treat patients to the best of my ability. In order to do that, I need certain information. In this case I need to know your babies age as accurately as possible. Will you answer my questions?"

Weeping uncontrollably, Candia slowly nodded.

"Good girl," Dr. Ludwig said in as soothing a tone as she could manage. "Have you ever had a period?"

Eyes locked with the doctor's, Candia moved her head from side to side.

"I thought not. That makes it a little more iffy, but we can still get close. You were already pregnant in February, correct?"

She dropped her head, nodded and cried harder.

"Very good. Did you have sex in December?"

Candia shook her head violently side to side.

"Do you remember the first time in January?"

Candia held up three fingers.

"Much better. That fits with the measurements. That's all I need from you right now. Lie down and rest. You did very well. I think we can make everything work out well." Dr. Ludwig picked up the syringe from the bedside table and injected it into Candia's IV bag. "I won't tell anyone, but you should. I'll have your mother come back in now."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Walking into a room occupied by three dozen Britlingens in full dress armor was more than a little intimidating. Sookie found herself reminding herself not only was she a vampire and could probably very easily defend herself against them in a purely physical fight, but that for all practical purposes, they worked for her, so her feelings of unease were uncalled for.

Eric held a chair for Sookie at the right side of the end of the long conference table and he took his seat at the head. Oliver, Ausra and eight other Britlingens also took seats at the table, with those remaining standing at ease along the walls.

"They all look so young," Sookie commented.

"They are all physically able and qualified to be here, Mistress," Ausra offered.

"I'm sure they are," Sookie added with a smile.

"Has the Queen's security detail been worked out?" Eric asked.

Oliver slid a file folder across the table to Eric. "Teams of four in daylight hours, replaced by twos in the evenings, working shifts of four to six hours depending on Her Majesty's schedule. Unlike Ausra and Saule, her security forces will no longer be inside your residence, but assigned outside your door, in the hall, when Her Majesty is inside. They will then accompany her when she leaves.

"Very good. Dearest, do have any questions or concerns regarding these arrangements?" Eric asked

"No. Not at the moment."

"Then we will move on to the first training exercises. Has a base been established south of Shreveport yet?"

Ausra stood to give her report. "Yes, my lord. We have temporarily taken all the rooms in a small motel and will be operating from there throughout this first task. Scheduled patrols have already begun and as you requested, a loose perimeter has been set up around Hot Shot.

I made contact with Calvin Norris personally, this afternoon to make certain our intentions were clear to him. I also made suggestions for the children and youth of Hot Shot to be encouraged to avoid being outside alone. And since we are dealing with children, I also took the step of providing Mr. Norris with a stack of photos of armored Britlingens to distribute to their children so the children know what we look like and will not be frightened of us if we they should encounter us in the areas around their homes.

Though it is our intention to remain unseen by the local population unless our assistance is needed."

"Excellent," Eric said. "And what is your initial assessment of the situation? Do you anticipate any logistical problems?"

"The only thing I see which may cause difficulties will be the full moon. Both the wolves and panthers run those woods at that time.

Within a day or two I will be better able to assess any inherent problems in adequately covering the area and how many extra patrols we will need to add for the full moon."

"You seem to have matters well in hand, Ausra. I'm sure when Saule arrives she will find everything to her satisfaction. Any word from the guild on when she will join us?"

"The length of her current assignment is of unknown duration, Your Majesty."

"Well, my Queen and I look forward to her return. If there is nothing further to be addressed, we can break for now." Eric extended his hand to Sookie. "My love, will you be joining me?"

"Yes, of course," she said softly.

As they walked back to Valhalla, Sookie clung to Eric's side. It was a beautiful night, but all Sookie could see was dark swallowing everything around her.

"We keep doing more and more and it doesn't seem to make any difference at all. We keep learning more but none of it is anything helpful."

"At present we do not know what bit of information will be the one we can use, Dearest. So what we do is cast the broadest net possible and hope we recognize the right bit when we see it."

"That sounds so ineffective."

"It may sound so, but fishermen have made their living that way for millennia, so it is well proven to work, despite its ineffective appearance."

Sookie hadn't been so glad to see her bed for a long time. She collapsed into it before the bedroom door was even closed. Someplace inside, she had the faraway feeling that if she were still human she would be sobbing uncontrollably. As it was, she felt cold and empty. Hopelessness was beginning to creep up on her.

Eric was pulling his shirt off as he passed. Sookie reached out to him. "Eric," a sad, small voice said.

He was beside her instantly. "What is it, my love?"

"Will you hold me?"

Eric gathered her into his arms and pulled her into his lap. She curled up against him like a frightened child in need of comfort.

"You were right earlier. It wouldn't have done any good for me to go to the clinic. I just feel like I ought to be doing something."

"You are doing everything you can," he said in a low, soothing tone.

Her troubles drifted slowly away as he rocked her. No unhappy thought could withstand the comfort and warmth of his embrace. Her hand followed the muscles of his arm and her cheek against his bare chest felt the movement of his pecs.

Without even thinking, she turned her face to kiss his chest. The taste of him was intoxicating. Her tongue lingered near his nipple before her lips attached themselves.

He held her head and rolled, so he was over her on the bed. "My lover returns," he whispered as his mouth engulfed hers.

How easily they fell into pace together, each body so in tune with the other, perfect mirrors of mutual passion.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Mmm," Sookie moaned softly before she'd even opened her eyes. She raised her leg and hooked it over Eric's hip, thus offering his hand freer access to its work. He was spooned close against her back and covering her shoulder with lingering kisses.

"Good evening, my lover," he murmured. "I hope you will forgive me for starting without you."

"If I missed anything good, remind me to scold you," she teased, reaching behind her to find his cock, hard and ready between them.

"As you see, I saved you the best." His fingers slid with expert precision from her clit to just the right spot inside her. Her first orgasm of the night came before she'd been awake for three minutes.

With some effort, she broke free from him. Given his way, he would make her shake and convulse until her muscles felt like jelly and she wasn't capable of voluntary movement for half an hour, but that wouldn't do. She wanted more right now, she wanted to feel her power over him.

She was on him in an instant, swallowing hard, then dragging her lips back up his length to the tip, where she kissed and teased him with her tongue. "Who was that you said the best was saved for, my lover?" she asked playfully.

"I seem to have forgotten our former conversation. Perhaps you would be good enough to remind me."

"Something about saving the best," she said and ran her tongue around his swollen head.

"Oh yes, the best –"

She sucked him in.

"Yes! Just so."

He didn't speak again, but gave way to a series of moans and guttural noises as her hands explored the contours of his perfect body and she enjoyed sending waves of pleasure coursing through him. By the time she had swallowed all evidence of his release, she wanted him again, but she would have to wait.

She kissed her way to his lower abs and her lips traced the lines between his muscles.

"So soft, my lover's lips," he whispered.

"Are you going to recite poetry for me now, lover?" Sookie looked up and smiled for him.

"Shall I?" he asked, his bright blue eyes filled with love for her. She couldn't look away.

So soft, my lover's lips to me

So tender is her touch

So sweet, I look upon her face to see

Her kiss I love so much

Be I awakened in the night

Be she beside my breast

Be my mind wondered by the sight

And my true love confessed

When she was sure he'd finished, she said, "That was beautiful. Where did it come from?"

"I read it in your eyes," he whispered and pulled her up to him. He kept her locked in his gaze as he kissed her mouth repeatedly.

She caught his tongue in her lips and sucked lightly. Upon releasing it she said, "I hope you never doubt how much I love you. Even if I can't write you poems."

"I do not require poems to be confident of your love, Dearest. My waking is evidence enough."

"My love keeps you awake?" she giggled.

But he was no longer teasing. "Without it I would surely die and never wake again."

"Then you will live forever, my darling Viking," she cooed and kissed him passionately.

His hands found her hips and pushed her back. At first she objected to having her kiss broken until she felt his renewed erection behind her. "Mmmm," she hummed, reaching behind her with both hands. "It seems I do keep you awake."

"I shall pray for the gods to bless me with insomnia," he grinned.

She pulled up on her knees and positioned herself over him. Her eyes closed involuntarily as she lowered and received him. The harmony of their moans filled the room and his fingertips held her fast atop him as he reveled in the feeling of being surrounded by her.

Slowly her hips began to reflect the movements of his as she took him into her again and again. As their pace became more urgent, he pulled her face to his chest and rolled to reverse their positions. Catching her knee with his arm he slammed into her until they were both left depleted and clinging to one another.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Candia sat and watched as the nurse checked her IV bag and carefully examined the bag and the tubing, then looked at the machine settings and compared them to the notes on the clipboard sitting on the shelf.

She was tall with short, dark blonde hair and bright blue eyes which lit up when she smiled. And she smiled a lot. She smiled as she put a hand softly on Candia's forehead, then gently cupped her cheek before asking her to open her mouth and have her temperature taken. She smiled as she took Candia's pulse. She even smiled when she asked Candia to sit up while she fluffed the pillows.

"I bet you wish you were somewhere else. It's hard to be cooped up inside a hospital room on such a beautiful day," the nurse said brightly.

"I miss the lake," Candia said wistfully.

"Oh,yes, the lake is lovely in the summertime."

"And in the winter. I loved Lake Cross in the winter."

The nurse patted the blanket over Candia's belly. "I'm sure you'll be enjoying the lake by the time the winter comes again."

Candia's hands instinctively went to her stomach, she shifted onto her side and pulled her knees up as much as she could. "I could never enjoy it alone."

"Don't underestimate yourself, Candia. You're very strong. You're a lucky girl in very many ways. You have people who love you and people who care about seeing to your well being. And beyond that, you have others who are concerned. You have Dr. Ludwig working very hard for you. You have me and the other staff here. I think you'd be surprised if you knew how many people held you in their thoughts."

Candia smiled too now. It was hard not to in the face of such optimism.

The nurse moved on to count and straighten the linens and blankets stacked on the shelf at the foot of Candia's bed. Her head turning toward the door just before Sanda entered. The nurse offered Sanda a smile as well before moving to Candia's bedside. "I'll see you again," she said and turned to leave.

Candia reached out and grabbed her hand. "You're not wearing a nametag. What do I call you?" she whispered.

"Sunny," the nurse said sweetly, then slipped past Sanda and out of the room.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

As promised, Ferdinand made good on his promise to arrange for Jason to have a conjugal visit, albeit an unusual one. First Ferdinand came in to go over the ground rules.

"I've arranged many things," Ferdinand began, "but this is the first time I have ever procured female companionship for anyone. I hope my choice is to your satisfaction." He stopped to laugh at his unintentional joke.

Jason rolled his eyes and tapped his foot nervously. "I think if you just send her in, I can handle it from there." Jason then furrowed his brows and looked directly at Ferdinand. "You ain't gonna stay in here and watch, are you?"

"Uh, thank you, no," Ferdinand replied in an uncomfortable tone. "However, as you know, it is imperative that your identity be concealed. Therefore, the girl has been told your name is John. You will not tell her any differently. As far as you're concerned, her name is Sue. She is not to tell you any differently, so please do not ask her.

I cannot make this point strongly enough. Sue has been assured she will be safe in this room. I don't care what you've been accused of, what your proclivities are, or how you're used to spending a Wednesday night, but I have given my word this girl will not be injured or damaged in any way.

I have given no assurances as to your prowess or attentiveness, but if you have any penchant for violence, you are to keep it to yourself tonight. I'm told Sue is willing to perform a number of different services, I'll leave it you two to discuss that between yourselves.

Lastly, and this is important as well. When I bring her in, she will be blindfolded and the blindfold is not to be removed."

"Oh, no way. You've got to be kidding!" Jason wailed.

"It's a deal breaker. She can't be allowed to recognize you or describe you. Do you want me to bring her in or not? It's of no consequence to me either way. I can take her back where I got her."

"Bring her in, dude." Ferdinand was almost taking the fun out of this. Almost.

Ferdinand left and came back a few minutes later leading a well endowed and well blindfolded young woman with a dark complexion and long dark hair. Ferdinand placed her hand in Jason's. "John, when Sue has redressed, please lead her to the door and knock and I will come back in for her."

With that, Ferdinand left the room. He took up residence in a chair, in the hall outside where he began his wait for Jason's knock. He had only been occupying his seat for a few minutes when a female visitor was allowed into Elinor's room.

"There you are," Elinor said when she saw her guest. "I was wondering if you'd come today." Elinor smiled, but she didn't get up from her bed.

"It's Wednesday, Mom. You know I always come on Wednesday." The woman sat down at the small table.

"Well, John hasn't been here in a long time. I thought maybe you'd both stopped coming. What's in the bag?" Elinor pointed to the bag her daughter still had tucked under her arm.

"Only some magazines and a couple of novels." She sat the bag on the table.

"Novels. Any crossword puzzle books?"

"I brought those already this month, Mom. New ones only come out once a month. I'll bring more next month." The woman sighed and removed the magazines and two paperback novels from the bag and stacked them on the table. "Your doctor said he adjusted your medication again. Are you feeling any differently?"

Elinor closed her eyes and turned her face toward her small window. "I feel the full moon coming," she said.

"Not for three days yet. Don't get ahead of yourself." When she saw the disappointed look on her mother's face, she changed the subject. "I see you have a new vampire neighbor. What can you tell me about them?"

"Don't be ridiculous, there are no vampires here, not in this ward. They only bring vampires into ward C, and only after there's been a breakthrough. The rest of us are guinea pigs, you see. Rats to populate their traps. They're looking for something, the doctors here, and they're using us to help them find it." Elinor suddenly looked very far away, as if she was trying to recall something just out of her grasp.

"Your new neighbor, mamma, not a vampire? But I saw a vamp outside in the hall. He's sitting there in a chair."

"He comes every night. He visits the man in the room. But the man is not a vampire."

"Really? How unusual. Perhaps the man belongs to the vampire. A pet he is particularly fond of who couldn't cope with the lifestyle maybe."

"Maybe. I don't know."

"I heard a bit of news you might be interested in. About that wretch of a girl in Shreveport."

"I don't care to talk about her," Elinor growled.

"You might like this," her daughter said excitedly. "It's not really so much about her, but her brother. He's been accused of rape!"

That got Elinor's attention. "Rape you say?"

"Yes. A Were girl, she's only sixteen. And Mother, the girl is pregnant."

Elinor began to quiver. "And what made you suppose I would enjoy hearing of a girl only a year older than John when –"

The woman joined her mother on her bed and put an arm around her. "No, of course you wouldn't want to hear about that part, but the effect it's having on his sister. I can't wait to talk to John about it! You heard about the vampire takeover here in Nevada?"

"Yes. There is a new king. I could hear them whispering about it," Elinor answered. Her daughter's way of speaking was confusing her. She wasn't able to connect the different things together.

"The new king is the one the wretch married. The one who banished John."

"No!"

"And that's not all. She let him turn her! She's a vampire now and she is beside herself trying to find her brother. She's forcing the king into making quite a spectacle of himself from what I hear. They have massive searches going on at all hours. I'm surprised they haven't been here to search under your bed yet."

"Under my bed?" Elinor was confused again.

"Oh, I was only kidding, Mamma. They'd have no reason to come here, but I have heard of them searching in Las Vegas and Carson City. They've probably been to Reno as well, but they'd have to be quieter about that since we're not in that king's territory any more."

"No," Elinor agreed. "King Leonas isn't likely to get involved in hiding a rapist of young girls. Tell me, Frannie, have you heard the brother's name?"

"Yes. His name is Jason, Jason Stackhouse."

Elinor didn't hear another word Frannie had to say. Her mind was thrown back to the day she conceived Frannie. She was in the woods near their house. How many had there been? Four, five? She couldn't remember how many, but she remembered the pain. The pain and humiliation that went on and on for what seemed like forever, and then her son had heard her screams. John had come to her rescue, fully transformed and killed them all.

In exchange for covering John's crimes, the vampires had forced him into the pits for three years. Elinor had never forgiven them for that. She looked at Frannie, still prattling away beside her. From the time Frannie had occupied her belly, Elinor had dreamt and prayed for a way to make the vampires pay for what they had done to her son.

Elinor smiled and stared at the wall separating her from her new neighbor, Jason. Only a wall stood between her and the answer to her long years of prayers. They would escape together the night before the full moon and vengeance would at last be hers.

Frannie left an hour later, shortly after she finally realized her mother was no longer paying attention.

As Frannie was leaving, she heard a male voice call her name. She turned and was surprised to see Ferdinand approaching her from behind.

"Excuse me, Miss Quinn, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with your mother."

Frannie realized she was in danger a moment too late. Two minutes later she was bound and in the trunk of his car, certain she was going to be taken into the desert and drained.

Ferdinand went back to Jason's room to retrieve 'Sue' and left. What a mess this was becoming. The only bright spot was that he now knew this "very delicate" task he had been given personally, by King Leonas, was connected back to King Eric, The Norseman, his hero.

From her bed, Elinor listened as the vampire picked up the girl who had been left in Jason's room. Typical male, she seethed, consumed by sex and his need to have his way with females of all ages. She couldn't speak to him now. That would have to wait. She could feel it coming. Since it was going to happen anyway she went ahead and gave herself over to her rage. The men in the woods, this man next door who thought the vampires could protect him. The vampires who forced her son to fight to the death in the pits for their amusement, they would all pay.

She let out a fierce scream, which built into a roar, which attracted the attention of the orderlies. A large man opened the small window in her door.

"Call her doctor," the man calmly said to another who had followed him. "Then go get the tranquilizer gun out of lock-up."

The man turned back to the window and watched as the huge tiger paced anxiously back and forth across the room, hissing and snarling as she went.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Eric paused outside the gym and stared through the glass. At first glance he might have looked like any of the others gathered in the hall watching the Queen having her evening fencing lesson. But on closer inspection, even an untrained eye could easily spot the difference.

The space immediately surrounding him was clear, yet the hall was quite crowded and people were huddled closely together in order to have an optimum view. And despite everyone's obvious interest in him, he paid no attention what so ever to anyone around him. He could have been alone. He was focused solely on his Queen and no other.

He watched as Sookie was repeatedly disarmed, though to her credit, despite losing her sword-rapier, she did not lose her dagger. Devon was easily misdirecting her. Eric didn't need to watch for long to see the problem.

"You will stand a much better chance of winning the bout, Dearest, if you keep your weapon in your hand," Eric said with a grin as he entered the gym.

"Welcome, Your Majesty," Devon said with a low bow.

"Tell him to stop hitting it and I'll be happy to keep it in my hand," Sookie snapped as she picked her sword-rapier up off the floor.

"If I am not mistaken, it is his purpose to disarm you. As it is yours to offer a proper defense and remain an armed threat. I will call Mr. Schwartzman and have him make you a jeweled martingale. That will help you somewhat."

"If you'll excuse my saying so, Your Majesty, do you not agree it is important to your Lady's progress that she learn to keep her blade without assistance? With an unskilled hand, a martingale may help her keep her blade but it will also increase her chances of falling on it." Devon stated.

"I agree it would be to my Lady's advantage to be able to keep her weapon without assistance, but if she is to lose it, better she is able to recover it quickly. Your purpose is to teach her to defend herself with a blade. She cannot do that if her blade is on the floor. As for increasing her chances of falling upon her sword, unless she somehow manages to decapitate herself in the process, my Lady is a vampire. She will certainly recover from any injury she sustains in such a circumstance.

In addition, I believe my Lady would better understand the messages you are showing her if they are presented differently to her. Take advantage of her superior eyesight and ease of movement. She is a fine dancer, lead her."

Eric extended his hand to Devon. "Mr. Bradford, if I may."

Devon handed Eric his rapier.

Eric began to walk in a circle around Sookie. He stayed about six feet from her and he moved at a very slow pace. To hold her attention, he occasionally tapped her blade with his. "Mr. Bradford has instructed you to see your weapon as an extension of yourself. My observations tell me you have accepted this basic rule and are acting accordingly.

What you are not doing, is seeing your opponent's weapon as an extension of him. As you defend, you mirror your opponent, just as in a dance."

"You want me to dance with you?" Sookie asked.

"Yes. When we dance, your arms mirror the movement of mine even when we are not holding hands. How is this achieved?"

Sookie looked at Eric as if he'd gone mad, but only for a moment. She answered, "I can tell what you're arms are about to do by the way you move the rest of your body."

"Precisely. Where the body moves, the blade will follow. Shall we dance?"

"Whatever you say."

"Look at me, Dearest, not my blade." Eric tapped her blade a little harder. "Defend yourself."

Sookie raised her blade and the dance began. Sookie watched Eric move and she countered his gestures as he progressed around her making various attacks.

He crossed one leg over the other. "I passe avant."

He raised his arm and brought his blade down toward her. "I coup de taille."

He turned to the inside, so his back was exposed to her. "I move in quartata."

He continued like that, announcing what he was doing, in French, so She didn't understand a word he was saying, but she didn't listen to him anyway, she followed him as if they were dancing.

When he had made a complete circle, he quickly raised his blade to his forehead and nodded with a smile. "There, you see? As with all things which require your attention and skill. You use your eyes, but for the most part it is your mind and your ability to focus which will determine your success or failure.

Think of waking."

Sookie's eyes widened as she thought of when they woke at sundown today. Surely he wasn't going there. Not with Devon, Mina and Oliver in the same room and two dozen people peering at them through the window.

"Think of moving as one."

Good god, he was going there. She looked with disbelief, directly into his eyes.

"That's right, lover." He tapped her blade. "Dance with me."

He lunged straight at her. She parried left. He stepped sideways and attacked again. She deflected him with her dagger.

"Excellent, my lover. You fight with both hands, Florentine, never let your off hand sit idle, use it."

He attacked her again and again, each time faster than the last, always in circles.

"Never lose eye contact, my lover. Threaten me. Let me see in your eyes how much you want me."

She was keeping up. Yes, he was letting her, but even so he was coming at her much faster than Devon ever had.

"Changement de rythme, my love. Do not allow me to set the pace. I have superior skill. You will never defeat me if I determine the game."

Sookie waited a few seconds then suddenly stopped defending and lunged at him. Of course, she missed, but he didn't parry quite quickly enough when she collided into him, she spun and brought her sword-rapier down on his blade, driving it to the floor.

She looked up into his face, beaming.

He returned her smile until Devon almost shouted, "She bested you!"

At that point Eric took Sookie's hand and bent as if to kiss it, then spun her around, caught her up in his arms and bit her neck. He didn't hurt her. He retracted his fangs at once. It was strictly for shock value and it made his point vividly. "If the day comes when that is ever true, Mr. Bradford, you will have been long dead of old age when it arrives."

Eric turned Sookie back to face him, raising her hand again. This time he smiled and kissed it. His fang marks on her neck had already healed. "My love, I bid you adieu for now." He glanced to Oliver. "Oliver, I leave my greatest treasure in your keeping."

"Yes, Majesty," Oliver responded with a nod.

Eric swept out of the gym as if he were making a grand entrance rather than an ordinary exit.

The remainder of Sookie's lesson went very well. She had lost a blade to Devon for the last time.

Sookie was happy and smiling as they walked to the elevator and went upstairs. Sookie and Oliver stopped off at the donor suite and Mina went to the penthouse.

A contented smile came to Mina's face as she entered the place she called home. She was greeted by Genevieve and Heller's laughter. They were in the kitchen, which apparently they had decided would be their private space. The centerpiece of their courtship seemed to be cooking lessons and Genevieve was teaching him with abandon. Everyone in the apartment had gasped at least once as she pushed the one-eyed man to go faster and closer with a large knife. Clearly Genevieve was embracing living with danger.

Shana and Karen sat at the piano playing Heart and Soul. Unfortunately, with Ausra gone, they had no one really proficient to play for them. Eric and Oliver both played, but neither as well as Ausra. Oliver would play if Mina asked, but it made him feel awkward and Eric only played when he was alone. Mina doubted it was due to embarrassment, since no one would dare suggest his playing was anything less than magnificent, but Mina suspected Eric used the piano as a sort of relaxation therapy. Whatever he used it for, he kept it to himself.

Mina went to the bar, poured herself a glass of iced tea and went to the living room to curl up on a sofa and wait for Sookie and Oliver. It wasn't a very long wait. Like most nights, Sookie was happy tonight. When Sookie was happy, the world was like Disneyland. She was a thoughtful and generous mistress who wanted more than anything to be surrounded by light-hearted and pleasant people. Despite all the dangers inherent in being around vampires, this was a very good place to be.

Sookie pulled her feet up into the large comfy chair she normally occupied when she sat alone and asked for a telephone.

"I wondered if I might arrange for a music instructor to start coming in during the day," Mina said as she handed Sookie the phone. "We have such a beautiful piano. It seems a shame for it go to waste."

"That's a wonderful idea!" Sookie agreed. "Yes, do that tomorrow. We need more musicians." Sookie looked toward the kitchen. "Heller, do you play?"

As soon as he was addressed, Heller came out of the kitchen. "If you mean the piano, Mistress, I don't play very well, but I do play guitar and several other stringed instruments."

"That's fantastic," Sookie said. "Do you have instruments or should we buy them?"

"I have a guitar, Mistress."

"Oh, good. We have several guitars too. Eric plays guitar. Or at least he says he does," Sookie giggled. "I've never witnessed this supposed guitar playing, but maybe it's like his piano playing and he only does it when he's by himself.

Anyway, Mina, why don't you find out if anyone else plays anything and take anyone who does to buy instruments. This is great. Maybe we'll have our own band. That would be fun. You should probably get another keyboard of some kind, too. A portable one, maybe ask the instructor to recommend something that would work to use for lessons or practicing."

"Yes, Mistress," Mina smiled. "I'll get on that tomorrow, first thing."

"I can't wait!" Sookie enthused. Then looking toward the piano, she sweetly asked, "I love that song, but can you girls play something different?"

Shana backed her hands from the keys and Karen began shuffling through sheet music. She played, but she was hardly concert material. She found something she felt she could muddle through and began to play softly.

Sookie smiled her approval and asked Mina for the number to the blood bank. They kept evening hours on Monday and Wednesday evenings to accommodate their customers and clients who were either sleeping or otherwise unavailable during daylight hours.

"Is David in, please? – I'll hold, thank you. Tell him it's Sookie Northman. – Good evening, David. – I'm very well. Do you still have that sample I had you collect? – Very good. How long would it take to run a DNA test on it? – No, I have nothing to compare it to right now, but I'm hoping it won't be too long before I do. – That soon? Great. TV makes it sound like it takes weeks and weeks. – Yes, that sounds fine. – David, I do have another question. Do you know Dr. Ludwig? – I was wondering if you knew what lab she used for her blood work? – Really? All the way to New Orleans? That seems strange when you're right here. – When this mess is over, perhaps I'll suggest you to her. She's very practical. I'm sure she'd like to know she had a local option. – So if you'll take care of that for me and give me a call when you have it done. – thank you, David."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

"And how are you doing tonight, Candia?" Dr. Ludwig asked.

"Great, thanks," Candia answered with a smile.

"Well, it's good to see you smiling. Are you sleeping? Getting plenty of rest?"

Candia shook her head in the affirmative.

"Your staff has been lovely. I can't think of anything else they could have done to make Candia feel more comfortable or safe," Sanda said happily.

"Your nurses are very nice," Candia added.

"Agnes? Or did you mean Evelyn from this morning?" Dr Ludwig asked absently as she checked the IV settings.

"No, I meant Sunny," Candia said. "She already checked all those when she was in here earlier."

Dr. Ludwig paused for only a second. Candia didn't notice, but Sanda did. "Did she? Very efficient, that Sunny. Mrs. Gray, were you in the room when Sunny was here?"

"I came in as she was leaving," Sanda answered. A chill ran down her spine as she answered. Sunny hadn't belonged here. Until this moment it had never occurred to her that her daughter might need protection from anyone but herself. In an instant everything changed. Someone was watching.

"I see. So you didn't see what all she checked?" Dr. Ludwig asked, with no change in her tone.

"She checked all the things you do," Candia said. "She checked the bag and the machine. She checked my temperature and my pulse. She made notes on the papers there." She pointed to the charting clipboard on the shelf.

Dr. Ludwig looked at the chart. Indeed someone had made additions indicating everything Candia said. Naturally, the additions were not signed. Where the signature should have been were the initials QN. This was a supe term. Qualified Nurse, it indicated something similar to RN, Registered Nurse, but it meant the person was qualified to act as nurse to supe patients. Dr. Ludwig knew just who to call about this. Any number of people might have sent spies into this girl's room. But there was only one person she knew of who possessed the kind of finesse to send spies who were actually qualified to be here. It was a nice touch, but it wasn't nice enough to make her happy about it.

Author's Note:

For anyone interested there is a one shot parody contest going on, called The Dead Pan Contest. fanfiction (dot) net/u/2231715/Dead_Pan_Contest

I have an entry in the contest but it's anonymous, so I can't tell you which one! There are some really funny entries parodying some of your favorite movies and TV shows, so if you're looking to be entertained, follow the link above and have a blast. And don't forget to leave a nice note for your favorites ... no matter whose they are. :)

sheba


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**.  
**

When Ferdinand had returned _Sue_ to her owner, he quickly drove out of town and pulled over to the side of the road. He picked up his cell phone from the console, got out of the car and walked out of earshot as he dialed a number.

"I have encountered a potential problem with my assignment and am requesting advice on how to proceed. – I overheard a conversation between a visitor and the person housed next door to my charge. She apparently knows King Eric and bears ill will against his Queen. They were discussing my charge, the search for him and the rumored particulars of his current difficulties. – I have secured the woman. I have taken her away from the sanitarium so her abduction would not be connected to the facility. I thought to take her to The Oubliette, if you have no objection. – Of course, I understand."

He closed his phone and calmly walked back to his car. When he opened the trunk Frannie pushed herself back as far as she could as if she could prevent him from forcing her out. Her eyes were wide with fear and clearly she had been crying, though she appeared to be preparing for defiance at present.

"You are in no danger of physical injury," he said. He had hoped this would calm her and alleviate her fears, but it didn't seem to have had the desired effect. Having reached the back of the trunk, Frannie curled into a fetal position.

Ferdinand closed his eyes for a second. He'd only been a vampire for ten years, but he already found many human actions irritating. "I am stronger than you, faster than you and you can't hurt me. I am going to take you to Las Vegas. These are facts. Nothing you can do will change these facts.

Your comfort during this trip is entirely up to you. You may ride in the front seat where it is comfortable, or you may remain in the trunk. It makes no difference to me. Do you understand so far?"

There was only a slight hesitation before Frannie nodded her head.

"Good. It's a long drive to Las Vegas. I will be driving very fast, but it will still probably take five hours. These are the rules for sitting in the front seat. You may not open the door for any reason. When we stop for gas, if you need food, drink or to use the facilities, you will tell me and I will come round and let you out. I will then escort you to wherever you need to go. You will not attack me or attempt to interrupt my driving. You will not succeed in anything but being an irritant to me by doing this and I can be quite unfriendly when I'm irritated.

I do not intend to injure or abuse you. You have nothing to fear from me so long as you behave and obey the rules.

Now is the time to make your choice. Would you like to ride in the front seat?"

Frannie nodded yes.

"Good. I prefer not to worry about you suffocating. I'm going to lift you out. Please don't kick me."

He lifted her out and stood her beside him. He untied her hands and removed her gag. As she stood rubbing her wrists he said, "I apologize for your discomfort. Please." He opened the passenger door and motioned, indicating for her to come to get in the car. She complied quietly.

Ferdinand was true to his word. He drove very fast. Frannie finally stopped glancing at the speedometer. It only served to frighten her.

"Why did you take me?" Frannie asked after a while.

"As a precaution."

"This has something to do with that woman."

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific if you expect a coherent answer to your questions," he responded.

"Sookie Stackhouse," Frannie said, her voice sounding as if the name was being pried from her lips with hot pliers.

"I'm afraid I don't know a woman by the name of Stackhouse. But if I'm not mistaken, King Eric's Queen is called Sookie by her family."

Frannie scoffed and shifted in her seat. "After she broke my brother's heart, the vampires made her a queen."

"I don't know anything about that and frankly, I'm not interested. She is the chosen of the Norseman and vampire Queen of Arkansas, Louisiana and Nevada. I don't need to know anything else."

"So you work for them?"

"No. I have never seen the Queen and I have seen His Majesty only once, but we were not introduced."

They sailed through the night at blinding speed down State Highway 95. They managed to escape the attention of law enforcement with the exception of one local cop who Ferdinand glamoured and they were on their way again.

They stopped only once for gas and as promised Frannie was taken inside and allowed to choose whatever she wanted to eat and drink.

A little less than five hours after leaving Reno they were parked at The Oubliette. By the time Ferdinand got in to see Vivienne there was less than an hour until sunrise. Frannie was left in a waiting room with a guard.

Ferdinand bowed to Vivienne. She sat behind the large former desk of Felipe deCastro. Her brother David stood at her side. "Sheriff Bloodstone, it's an honor to meet you. I am Ferdinand Rodriguez. I am charged with carrying out an assignment of interest to your king. In the process of my duties, I encountered a possible problem in the form of a human who may or may not be a threat to my assignment. I need to store her someplace where she will be cared for and kept out of sight."

Vivienne stared blankly at him with a raised eyebrow. After an awkward pause she asked, "Excuse me, but am I supposed to have any idea what you're talking about? Or perhaps this is some sort of parlor guessing game?"

"I apologize for the lack of details but I am not at liberty to discuss my assignment with anyone."

"But you say you are acting on behalf of my king, so surely a call to him would clarify your situation," she said.

"I doubt it, my lady. I do not believe His Majesty is aware of me or the nature of my assignment, though I can assure you, it is of importance to him."

Vivienne carefully considered his words. "Where is your nest?"

"Under normal circumstances I am an inhabitant of the California court, by leave of His Majesty King Leonas."

Vivienne smiled. "There has been much activity in Nevada lately. Weres from Louisiana have been here conducting an extensive search. It seems the brother of my queen offended them in some way then vanished and no one seems able to locate him. I have been ordered to offer them my full cooperation in their search. This would extend to giving them access to The Crypt, my prisoner holding facility."

"I have heard rumors of such a search and it would be unfortunate for this woman to be questioned by these searchers. Though I would request she not be kept in a prison facility. She has committed no crime. I simply removed her from a potentially threatening situation."

"I see. Fine. I'll put her in a guarded room for now. Leave me a contact number for you," Vivienne instructed. "Where is she?"

Ferdinand and Vivienne walked out into the waiting room. When Frannie looked up Vivienne was visibly startled. She knew this woman.

"Who are you?" Vivienne asked. "I've seen you before."

"I worked your wedding, Lady Bloodstone. My name is Frannie Quinn."

"Of course it is. How could I forget," Vivienne said. She smiled broadly and extended a hand to Frannie. "Welcome to The Oubliette, Miss Quinn. I'm so pleased to see you again.

David, call down and see what accommodations we have available for Miss Quinn, something nice, with a view of the strip. And don't forget to get our friend's contact number." Vivienne tossed a glare back to Ferdinand as she walked away.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

When Eric had left for The Asgard Thursday evening, Sookie called downstairs to have a car brought around.

"Oliver, we're going out. Let's you and I go across the hall before we leave.

Genevieve, please put four TruBloods in a cooler along with drinks and snacks for three.

Mina, call Devon and tell him we won't be having class tonight. And I'd like you to come with me and Oliver."

"Yes, Mistress," Mina said, and she went to get a phone as Genevieve headed to the kitchen.

Half an hour later, Sookie, Oliver, Mina and two Britlingen guards were in the back of a limo headed to Hot Shot.

Since the Britlingens would be rotating guard duties and not living with Sookie, as Ausra and Saule had done, it had been decided they would serve their duty outside the penthouse door in the hall and would trail after Sookie whenever she left. In this way, she had very little contact with them and didn't even know the names of most of the ones in the rotation. However, tonight she had asked their names, since they would be occupying the car with her. It was a good sized limo, but even so, it was hard to ignore two people riding with you.

"Amy, Kay, please feel free to help yourself to anything in the car. There are additional snacks and drinks in the cooler there, as well and you're welcome to any of those as well."

The drive to Hot Shot passed quickly. Sookie listened as Mina chatted happily about the day's shopping and other activities.

She had engaged a piano instructor who would begin coming to the apartment three times a week in a few days. Her name was Mrs. Coggins and she seemed very nice. Everyone in the household would at least attempt to learn to play. She preferred not to work evenings, but if Sookie was interested in lessons for herself she would recommend someone.

Mrs. Coggins had given her a list of sheet music and lesson books. Shreveport Music hadn't had everything on the list, but what they didn't have, they ordered.

Mina counted off on her fingers as she ran through a list of the instruments they'd bought. There was the full sized electric keyboard of course, another guitar, a violin, a mandolin, a flute, a saxophone and a harp.

"Karen plays the harp!" Mina gushed as if she'd just announced Karen could spin straw into gold. "Did you know that?"

"No, I didn't," Sookie assured her.

"Many play the harp, my dear," Oliver added with a chuckle.

Mina froze. Only for a second, she didn't want to embarrass or discourage him by drawing unnecessary attention to it, but her heart swelled at the sound. Such a simple thing, all he'd done was refer to her as 'my dear', but he'd done it publicly. And in front of two of the Britlingens who worked under him as well.

Of course he had professed his love for her in front of Sookie before, the night Sookie gave her to him. But since then his endearments had all been private. Everyone knew she was his woman and they were a couple, but other than dancing together there hadn't been any public displays of affection between them.

She placed a hand on his knee and turned to give him a loving smile, before continuing. "And we took Heller shopping for some clothes. "We thought if he was going to be living at court, he should probably look a little less like he belonged in an S&M porn movie."

"Good point," Sookie agreed with a giggle.

The driver's voice came over the intercom. "We'll be making the turn into Hot Shot in a moment. Do you have further instructions?"

"Yes," Sookie said. Rather than speak into the intercom, she moved to the window separating the driver from the other occupants of the car and she directed him to Calvin Norris' house.

They pulled to a stop in front of the house and Sookie looked at Oliver. "I need to get out alone."

"I can't do that, Mistress, the king would never allow it."

"Eric isn't here."

"His orders are here. If you step out that door alone and something on the other side harms you, my life is over." He glanced at Mina. "I am not prepared to die today."

Sookie closed her eyes and sighed in frustration. "Fine, but only you. The rest can stay in the car unless we send for them."

"As you command," Oliver said with a nod.

"Pfft, my commands don't count for a hill of beans."

"On all matters save security, your commands are law."

"Whatever, come on."

Oliver stood back a few steps as Sookie went to the door.

Calvin came to the door she'd even knocked. She quickly told him why she was here and after a very brief conversation he invited her entire party to come inside.

"Someone go get the cooler. I'd like you all to sit in at the dining table and have something to eat and drink," Sookie instructed. "Calvin, may we use your microwave?"

Calvin was making calls. He nodded and motioned into the kitchen.

"Mina, please warm me a TruBlood and poor some of it into a glass," Sookie said.

"They'll all be here in a few minutes," Calvin said as he hung up his phone.

"Good. Thank you, Calvin." Sookie looked over at the table. Oliver and the Britlingens sat very straight and still. "Good god, you look like gargoyles. Do try not to look so much like armed guards. There will be children here in a few minutes and I'd rather not scare them out of their wits. If you must look so severe, please go do it back in the car."

The three of them made an effort to relax. They still looked uncomfortable and out of place, but not quite so much like something which might be hiding under a bed.

"Mina, I'd like you to stand over here by me. And bring a notepad and a pen in case I see anything I need to write down."

"Yes, Mistress." Mina brought a pen and pad and stood behind the sofa where Sookie was sitting.

"You've come up in the world since I saw you last," Calvin said, taking a seat in the chair across from her.

"Coming up was never a priority for me. All I ever wanted was to be happy."

"And he makes you happy?"

"He does," Sookie answered with a smile. "He makes me very happy."

"Then I'm happy for you," Calvin answered. "I'm not sure what any of the kids can tell you. I've talked to all of them, more than once. They don't have anything useful to say."

"I'm not really interested in what they say, Calvin. I want them to show me what they saw. They may have seen something and not even remember it.

If you walk into someone's house for the first time, when you leave you may only remember their furniture, but your eyes saw every detail on the wallpaper, every book on their shelves, how many windows were in the house in the painting on the wall.

So if someone else asked you questions, you would only be able to tell them about the furniture, but if you let me hold your hand, you can show me everything your eyes saw."

As promised, a few minutes later there was a knock at the door. Calvin relinquished his seat to the thirteen yr old girl who had been thrown in the lake. Three of the four kids who had been frightened by the wolf the week before, were huddled together across the room wondering what was going on. The forth was gone somewhere with his parents at the moment, but Calvin promised to make him available to Sookie as soon as possible if she needed to see him.

Sookie smiled cheerfully at the girl in the chair in front of her. "My name is Sookie, what's yours?"

"Mama says you're a Queen," the girl said without saying her name.

"Tell her your name, Grace," the girl's mother whispered to her.

Sookie held up a hand. "It's alright. She doesn't have to say anything if she doesn't want too. – Is it alright if I call you Grace?"

Grace nodded slowly.

"Fine. Well, Grace, your mother is exactly right. My husband is a king, so since we're married, that makes me a queen. But you can call me Sookie."

The girl giggled and Sookie heard someone, who had to be Oliver, shifting in his seat behind her. What he saw as Sookie's lack of respect for her position irritated him terribly.

"Grace, I'm trying to help Mr. Norris and your family find the man who attacked you at the lake."

Grace stiffened and looked down into her lap.

Sookie reached out and put her hand over the girl's hands in a comforting way. "You don't have to answer any of my questions, Grace. And you don't even have to look up. All I need you to do is think about that day. I'll ask questions and you think about them. You can do that, can't you?"

Grace peered up from beneath her lashes and nodded.

"Very good. I'd like you to think about that day, before the attack. Had you seen anyone you didn't know near the lake that day? – Near your house? – In the woods? – No one? – And what were you doing before the attack? – And you didn't see him approach? – And after you were in the lake? – I see. Thank you very much, Grace. Thank you for letting me talk to you.

Sookie called the other three kids over to her one at a time and had them sit next to her on the sofa. She went through basically the same thing with them. She asked their name, then went through a series of questions about the day they were frightened by the wolf.

The two girls had seen nothing before hand and the wolf had approached them from behind, but when the boy, Jim sat down, she hit pay dirt.

"We ran out of the water nekkid," the boy said. He giggled, but he didn't look up. He was staring down into his lap.

He was eleven years old, almost twelve, and he was a big boy. He was looking forward to his first transformation. He was certain he'd be huge. He looked down at his hands. The Queen had her hand palm up in his lap. One of his hands completely covered hers. He straightened his back and sat up as tall as he could. I bet even she can see how cool I'll be, he thought.

Sookie smiled, but did not respond to his private thoughts. "What about before you heard the wolf? Did you see the girls?"

Jim thought for a minute then looked up at Sookie. He remembered. "Yes! I saw them! They were behind a bush!"

Sookie could see him, behind the girls, watching. "That's right, Jim. Think about the girls. And when you saw them." Sookie turned to Mina, who was standing behind her and whispered, "Notepad."

Mina handed her a pad and pen and Sookie began writing a description of Conall. She didn't want to speak it out loud yet, because if Jim hadn't noticed him, the picture might get cloudy or disappear altogether.

"Did the girls do anything or just stand there?" Sookie asked, to keep him focused.

"They didn't do anything, but they kept looking over at our clothes. I think they were gonna snatch them and run."

She saw the man in Jim's head begin to take his shirt off and shrink down behind the bushes. Definitely a Were, he was changing. "So you would have been left to come out of the lake naked anyway," Sookie said with a friendly smile. When she had written the description with as much detail as she could, she asked, "Did you see anyone else at the lake that day?"

As she'd expected, the boy hadn't noticed the man. The picture went blank the minute Jim began looking for him.

"Thank you, Jim. You were very helpful," Sookie said to him. She looked up at the parents. "Thank you."

"Y'all can go on home now," Calvin said to them. "Thanks for coming over when I called."

Sookie handed her note to Calvin so he could look at the description. "It may not look like much on paper, but I can see him now. I'll have a sketch done and we'll be able to find out who he is."

"The boy said he didn't see the man," Calvin said. "Where'd this description come from?"

"He saw the man. He just didn't notice him. Jim was looking at the girls. This man was standing behind them, he was mostly hidden by the brush. Jim didn't notice him, but he was there."

All the way back to Shreveport Sookie was giddy. Whoever was responsible for the attacks had to be connected to Candia. It wasn't her father. It was a very young man. Wouldn't it be a stroke of luck if he was the one.

As Sookie gushed her excitement to Mina, Oliver was on the phone. He called Eric, of course, to have him call in the investigators with any photographs they might have of any males coming or going from the Gray household. He was also making calls looking for a sketch artist to meet them at The Asgard.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Shortly after sundown, Thursday evening, Dr. Ludwig charged through Eric's office door without knocking. She was flushed with anger as she stomped to his desk.

Eric let his incoming call go to voice mail, closed his phone and folded his hands on his desk. "How delightful of you to visit, Dr. Ludwig. You are well, I see. Please have a seat."

"I'll have a seat alright. I hope that was an important call," she huffed as she climbed into a chair across from him.

"Nothing which cannot wait. How may I be of service to you this evening?"

"You know damned well why I'm here."

"Do I? I believe you confuse me with my wife. It is she who has the gift of discerning the thoughts of humans. I possess no such ability, therefore I am dependent on other means of obtaining information."

"I need you to get your other means out of my clinic," she demanded. She met him stare for stare.

"Has someone subject to my authority or within my influence caused some sort of disturbance in your clinic, Dr. Ludwig? If so, I will of course address the issue at once," Eric said with a smile and oozing charm from every pore. He never attempted to glamour Dr. Ludwig. She amused him too much. He found it very entertaining such a small human would challenge him when entire groups of others could be sent scampering into corners if he raised his voice.

"There is someone in my clinic impersonating a nurse. I want her out."

"Has this impersonator damaged anyone? Perhaps she is not an impersonator. Have you questioned her?"

"Eric Northman, stop talking in circles and get your god damned spy out of my clinic!" she screamed.

Eric stood and leaned forward with his palms flat on his desk. His voice lowered to a menacing growl as he spoke. "Madam, you have a patient in your clinic who is of considerable interest to me. She has made accusations, widely believed to be false, which have resulted in tremendous chaos and turmoil in my kingdom, great personal expense to me and an unacceptable level of distress to my Queen.

Now, perhaps in the course of performing your duties as her physician, you have acquired knowledge which could alleviate my curiosities and concerns. And having acquired said knowledge, perhaps you might be inclined to share what you know?"

"Even if I had any information from a patient, you know I couldn't pass it to you, or anyone else. All patient information is confidential." She had stopped screaming, but she didn't look away.

"An honorable practice. I understand. I suppose having Sookie join us would be out of the question?"

"I don't want to be involved in your disagreements. As with any of your other disputes, I won't take sides."

Eric retook his seat. "Despite your temper, I know you to be a reasonable woman. In exchange for my willingness to accept your need to maintain the confidence of your patients, you must accept my need restore order in both my territories and my home.

In the event I were to send a spy, as you call it, into your clinic, you may rest assured she would be fully qualified to do anything she did while there and she would not be a threat to any of your patients.

Considering what I could do if driven to drastic measures, I believe we have reached a reasonable understanding. Do you not agree?"

"Hurry, Eric. The full moon will be Saturday. The girl is a firstborn. The trauma of another change will likely trigger her labor to start. If she delivers during the transformation, she may not survive it."

Eric was completely unemotional when he said, "The girl's medical condition is of no consequence to me. My only interest in her is the paternity of her offspring. I assume the appropriate testing can be done regardless of whether any of them survive?"

"Yes, of course, with the family's consent," Dr. Ludwig replied flatly.

"Excellent. Do you need more nurses? I would be happy to provide you with as many Qualified Nurses as you feel you need."

"I would prefer to do my own staffing, thank you."

"As you wish. Will that be all, or did you have other matters to discuss with me?"

She was being dismissed. She had gotten exactly nothing from him, unless you counted his assurance the spy running loose in her clinic was medically qualified to be there. The situation remained exactly as it was before she came.

When Dr. Ludwig had gone, Eric retrieved his cell phone to check his messages. Leonas had been calling when Dr. Ludwig burst into his office and Vivienne was calling now.

"Good evening Leonas. – I assume we are speaking of my wife's brother. -- As you wish. I would not ask you to betray a confidence. – Last night? -- Quinn's sister? Am I never to be free of tigers? – Yes, of course. – I understand. He did well. – I'll see to it from here. Thank you."

His next call was to Vivienne. "Give your sister the phone. – Now. – Vivienne, this is a direct line. Thus when I call it, I expect to be speaking directly to you. If I should develop a desire to speak to your brother, I will arrange a direct line to him. – Very well. I understand you were brought a guest this morning. – I recognize the name. He was present for the takeover. As I recall, he is very young. -- I have no additional information to give you, only instructions. Put her in a good suite with free access to room service. Give her a companion and a twenty-four hour guard outside her door. Offer her arrangements for any sort of in room entertainments you have available to you. In short, make her as comfortable as possible. – Yes, I am aware of her brother's identity. It is unfortunate, but unavoidable now, we must deal with the circumstances we are given. – I believe we are nearing the end of this situation. A resolution should be coming soon. – Keep me informed of any changes."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Candia was sleeping when Rafe and Conall arrived. Sanda had called Rafe and asked him to come and sit with Candia so she could go and get some rest. It was the first time Rafe or Conall had been to the clinic since the night Candia was admitted.

Sanda yawned and got up from her chair. She met her husband on the other side of the room for a whispered conversation about Candia's condition. She answered Rafe's questions about the IV, the medications and the monitor attached to her.

"She must be kept calm, Rafe. Don't do or say anything to upset her, not even a little bit. Agree with anything she says. You have to do this, Rafe. If you can't then I have to stay." Sanda looked into pleadingly into Rafe's eyes.

"I love her too, Sanda, no matter what she's done. I don't want to lose her." Rafe put an arm around his wife and hugged her tight and kissed the top of her head. "You go rest. We'll be fine."

Sanda left, but she ddn't go home to rest. She drove straight to Alcide's office.

When she got in to see Alcide, she explained what had happened in Candia's room, with the unknown nurse.

"And you're certain Dr. Ludwig didn't know who it was?" he asked.

"She kept her cool about it, but it was obvious she didn't want to upset us."

Alcide stared across the room at nothing in particular as he considered what Sanda had told him. "Of course I can't be certain, but I doubt the panthers are behind it. They would be the more dangerous, in that they might actually want to harm Candia. But the woman was alone with her and was friendly, you say?"

"Yes. Candia liked her very much," Sanda answered.

"It's much more likely she works for Eric."

"We need your help, Alcide. Candia needs your help. She needs protection."

"Sanda, she hasn't been threatened. If Eric has someone coming into her room, he's looking for information, not to hurt her. If he wanted to harm her, Sanda, we don't have any guards who could prevent him from doing it. He has command of every vampire in three states and an army of Britlingens. He can do pretty much as he pleases."

"So there's nothing we can do?" Sanda said, her voice filled with the hopelessness her body displayed as she sunk lower into her chair.

"My resources are stretched thin, but I can talk to Rafe and give him two men to work in a rotation with him and he can use Conall as well. They can set up a schedule to see that someone is with Candia at all times. On the off chance it was the panthers who sent the spy, that should help keep her away.

And I'll call Dr. Ludwig and get her opinion about things. Then when I speak to Rafe, I will say I am basing my decisions on information received from her."

"Thank you, Alcide."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

.

Candia felt like a celebrity as the new arrangements for her security were explained to her. She was particularly pleased the whole thing had been Alcide's idea. She'd had a terrible crush on him before she met Conall and it had been made worse when she'd overheard her parents talking about how they intended for her to marry Alcide.

Somehow it seemed extra sexy for her former, imaginary lover to be offering her protection and unbeknownst to him, including her actual lover as part of the plan. Every time she thought about it she broke into peels of giggles.

Ted was with her now. He had relieved her father four hours ago and Conall would relieve him in an hour from now. She couldn't wait. She'd seen Ted before, but she didn't really know him well.

All the young girls called him Teddy because he looked more like a black bear than a wolf. His grandmother had been a Werebear so despite being cute, he could never have hoped to have a female like Candia. He would have to choose his mate from among the less than pure females in the pack if he was to mate with a firstborn. Otherwise he could elect not to have a Were child and select another girl from the pack.

But regardless of his pack status, she was comfortable enough with him in the room she was able to drift off to sleep at a particularly inopportune moment.

Conall slipped into the clinic through the loading entrance in the back. He was unnoticed, at least as far as he knew. He didn't notice the tiny red light on the camera mounted in the tree, which had been triggered by the motion detector. Ron and Wade couldn't personally get as close as they'd like to Candia, but they were keeping scrupulous records of those who could.

It was nearly an hour before Conall was scheduled to relieve Ted for guard duty, so he had plenty of time to take care of his business and get back out before time for him to make his visible entrance at the beginning of his shift. On his way to Candia's room, he almost ran into a middle aged nurse, but he managed to duck into another patient room for a second.

Candia was asleep. Could this be any more perfect? He took it as a sign from the gods. He was justified in what he was about to do.

Ted looked a bit confused, but mostly grateful his relief had chosen to come in an hour early. If Conall had the schedule mixed up by an hour, he wasn't going to be the one to tell him. Ted got up, smiled and extended a hand in friendship. "Hey," he whispered to keep from waking Candia. "We haven't actually met yet. I'm Ted."

Conall had stopped just inside the room, so Ted crossed over to him at the foot of the unoccupied bed to shake Conall's hand.

Conall smiled broadly, whispered "Pleased to meet you," and yanked Ted off balance. Ted tumbled into Conall's chest and with a swift single motion, had his neck snapped. Conall lifted Ted's lifeless body onto the other bed and pulled the curtain separating the two sides of the room.

"Who's there?" Candia asked in mid yawn.

Damn. Well, that was OK. Sure, it would have been easier if she'd stayed asleep, but she was only a little girl. He could handle her. "It's only me."

"Conall! You're early. I didn't expect you for nearly another hour, but I'm glad you're here. Ted is nice but he's awfully boring."

"He won't be boring you any more," Conall said with a smarmy grin as he came round the curtain.

"Did he quit? He'll get in trouble with Alcide if he did," Candia said in the tone of a child who was looking forward to tattling on someone. "How did you know he was gonna leave early?"

Candia was smiling at Conall and was truly happy to see him, but something was off about him tonight, like maybe he'd eaten something which didn't sit quite right on his stomach or perhaps there was traffic on the way to the clinic. Her dad hated traffic. It always put him in a terrible mood. Maybe Conall was the same way?

"Listen to me, Candia. I need to explain something to you." He was standing next to the curtain, gripping it in his hand … a little too tight.

She was liking his tone less and less. Something was definitely wrong. She sat upright in bed and answered as sweetly as she could. "What is it, Conall?" Maybe he just needed to talk it out? Whatever his problem was.

"As I told you the other day, cats and wolves can't breed, so everyone has been expecting you to miscarry."

Under the covers, a protective hand instinctively slid across her stomach. She had nowhere to run. No matter how quickly she might be able to get out of this bed, he stood between her and the only way out. The air in her room was suddenly thick with danger. It felt heavy as she sucked it into her lungs. "And now they all think Dr. Ludwig is brilliant because she kept it from happening," Candia chirped in the happiest tone she could manage.

Her cheerful tone didn't have the desired impact on him. He was talking at her rather than to her. It seemed as if she had been transported to the center of a stage somewhere and Conall was an actor and he was delivering his lines to someone else who was supposed to be in the very space Candia was occupying.

His stare seemed to go through her. "At first I was relieved when you came into the hospital. I thought you were going to miscarry and everything would work out. But then I remembered how stupid you were. How you had accused the Queen's brother, of all the shifters in the world. The vampires would insist on testing, even if the cubs were dead, because you, YOU, the accuser would still be alive and they would need to vindicate the jerk you set up."

Candia had never been more frightened. She was in his way. She thought back to how easily he had chatted about her finding a shifter to seduce into sleeping with her so the pregnancy could be blamed on him. She had been horrified at the idea of accusing an innocent man of a death offence, but he had convinced her a man who could be so easily wrangled by a sixteen year old girl was someone of very low moral character who probably went around having his way with young girls all the time, often against their will. So they were really doing society a favor by getting rid of him. They were like super heroes.

No, she realized now, they were like murderers. How could she have fallen for his talk? Even now as he smoothly droned on about her own impending death she was almost buying into it. What a dreadful thing she sounded like. Surely she deserved to be kicked to the curb along with the bodies of other, equally undeserving people?

"Conall," she whispered. Her brain was begging her to scream, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Her voice was caught in her throat. The air was like Jello now. She could barely breathe and when she spoke, only a mewling murmur would come out. "Did Teddy leave early when you got here?" She'd hoped to remind him of the possibility of Ted coming back at any minute, but he was ahead of her. As he walked toward her, he dragged the curtain with him, exposing Teddy lying on the other bed. The curtain didn't push close enough to the wall for her to see his face and she was glad for that. She knew he was dead.

Conall reached over and took the pillow from the bed holding Ted's corpse.

The arctic chill stealing up her spine was crippling. The only parts of her left with the ability to move were her eyes, which she could feel growing larger by the second. She tried to say something, but only a squeak escaped her lips.

"You understand, don't you?" he looked and sounded so far away as he spoke and though he appeared to be looking directly at her, Candia wasn't sure he actually saw her. "I'm so tired. I need to settle down. I need to be accepted into the pack. If you're gone, maybe they can be convinced to just drop their demand for the Queen's brother and the vampires won't demand testing on the bodies."

Another squeak at him referring to her babies as 'the bodies'. The babies weren't theirs any more they were hers. She was their mother. It was up to her to protect them and she was alone. As her heart began to race, her eyes moved wildly around the room, casting about for any kind of idea of what to do.

"No, Conall," was all she managed to say before he was holding her down on the bed with the pillow over her face.

"Good evening, Conall," came a cool, even female voice. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

Candia felt the pressure being lifted from the pillow and she gathered the will to knock it away from her face. Sunny was standing behind Conall holding a short sword to his back.

"You're safe, Candia. He can't hurt you now," Saule said softly. She saw Candia's eyes suddenly grow enormous. Conall was moving. He was going to try to turn and attack.

Saule smiled at Candia before gracefully jumping straight up as Conall turned. As she descended, her blade entered him diagonally piercing his right shoulder and with expert precision, penetrating straight across his chest to his heart. His lifeless body crumpled to the floor in a heap, sliding off her sword as if it had been holding him up.

"Sunny," Candia said, staring down at Conall. "Where did you come from? I didn't hear you come in the room."

Saule put her sword back into the sheath at her side. And stepped over Conall so she was close enough to place a comforting hand on Candia's arm. "I've been here all along, Candia. I've been watching over you."

"Did Alcide send you?"

"No, but I've heard of him. I've heard he is a good man."

"Who sent you?" Candia asked.

"I must leave it to my master to make his identity known if he chooses. It is not my place. My job was only to keep you safe. It was suspected the father of your children would attempt to harm you or them."

Candia lifted her gaze and smiled at Saule. "Thank you, Sunny."

"My true name is Saule, which means 'the sun' in the Lithuanian language. But you may call me Sunny, if you like."

"Your master. You work for the vampires."

"Yes. You need to tell the truth Candia. You have falsely accused a very nice man. Were children have suffered frightening attacks and this man," Saule indicated Ted, not Conall, "has died for your lies. Only you can prevent it from getting worse. You must tell them."

"The vampire queen will have me killed. Or I'll be abjured by the pack. I'll be alone." Candia whined.

"There are worse things than being alone," Saule answered solemnly. "But I don't think that will happen. I know you will be in no danger from the vampires if you tell the truth. My master is only interested in restoring order to the territory.

And as I said before, I believe Alcide is a good man. He may be angry, but you are a firstborn and you carry pures. That will outweigh his anger."

"Conall tried to kill me," Candia cried. Her eyes were welling up. The shock was wearing off and the reality was beginning to hit her.

Saule went and propped the door open. She stepped into the hall and called out, "Dr. Ludwig!"

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Elinor had kicked her escape plan into high gear the day of her daughter's visit.

As she had suspected all along, Jason wasn't really a patient here. He was simply being hidden. From piecing together the bits of information she'd gotten from him with the story Frannie told, he was being hidden against his will. That was good. He was obviously not very bright if he objected to being protected from Were justice. She was looking forward to showing him the error of his ways.

Frannie had visited two days ago. Elinor had originally planned on making this phase a week long, but there was no time now. The full moon would be here tomorrow. For two nights and a day she wouldn't be able to transform at will. She would be bound by the rising and setting of the moon.

It was time.

She ate her dinner slowly then closed her eyes and waited. When the orderly opened her window to tell her she had ten minutes before they would be picking up the dinner trays, she smiled sweetly and thanked him.

He closed her window and walked toward Jason's door to deliver the same message. She counted three of the orderly's steps before she screamed to draw his attention. She transformed before he got back.

When he opened the small window in her door, she roared at him and came toward the door to bear her teeth. She enjoyed doing that. It never got old. It always sent them running for the tranquilizer gun. Worked like a charm, every time.

He hadn't even closed the window before scurrying down the hall in search of backup. Ten minutes later she was shot with a needle and she went through her routine of ever softening growls, staggering and collapsing on the floor before changing back to human form.

The amount of narcotic in the gun wasn't enough to fell a full grown tiger, at least not one of the supernatural variety. The humans at this facility were well trained and had been working with supernaturals for who knew how long before the great reveal, but they still consulted ordinary zoology species weight tables when deciding dosages. This worked well for some things but not all.

This was the most difficult part of the plan. Remaining still on the floor and pretending to be asleep as the orderly opened the window every few minutes checking to make sure she had been properly knocked out before entering to take her vital signs and perhaps move her up onto her bed. Sometimes they moved her, sometimes they left her on the floor, it all depended on who was on duty that night.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

"Wake, my lover," Sookie whispered heavily into his ear. "I thirst."

Eric felt her lips grazing his skin along his jaw, her naked body pressing against his. It was not need of a donor causing her thirst. He had found a lover he worshipped, whose body he craved more with each passing sunset and whose insatiable desire matched his own.

"Hand me my phone, Dearest. I shall have someone fetch you a donor," he said without opening his eyes.

"A donor!" she shrieked, sitting up and slapping his chest. "What am I supposed to do with a donor?"

His laughter filled the room as he pulled her back down next to him. "You are easily baited, my beauty."

"And you're mean," she pouted.

"I have heard that said. Though not with regard to you."

"You know, I've heard that said too, and I've wondered about it. I've never seen you do anything really mean."

"You've seen me kill," he reminded her.

"But those times were to protect your queen and to protect me."

"I assure you, my love, my actions have not always been so easily justified. Most accusations you may hear against me are true to at least some degree. Though certainly perspective often colors that degree.

But enough of this sordid topic, I believe we were discussing your thirst and how best to quench it." He rolled over onto his elbow and lowered his mouth to hers.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

When the chief orderly was satisfied she was indeed out, he shouted down the hall for someone to come help him lift her off the floor and onto the bed. She listened for the jangle of his keys as he fumbled for the right one to slip into the lock. He would be looking at them now, not the window.

Moving with the stealth only a cat can manage, she lifted herself from the floor and went to the door. When he opened it, she met him with a solid fist to the jaw. He made eye contact for the briefest of seconds before he dissolved onto the floor, ending up in an odd sort of fetal position. Lying there, he looked like one of those toddlers who run and play at top speed until they're completely exhausted then simply collapse in place and go to sleep. He was out as cold as she was supposed to be.

She dragged him into her room before he was noticed and tucked him close to the wall, so he couldn't be seen from the doorway without entering the room. She heard the assistant he'd called for walking up the hall.

When he arrived, she repeated the process. She knocked him out just as easily, but she caught the edge of his jaw with her knuckle and her skin split. It was a small cut, but it was bleeding all over everything. It would heal. She couldn't worry about it now. She had things to do.

She dragged Mr. Assistant Orderly in as well and laid him out beside the first. She couldn't help taking a moment to stare at them lying there. Why was it always so easy when she decided it was time to leave? Was she getting smarter or had the clinic staff simply reached the end of their learning curve? After a moment of pondering the question she shook it off and set about the next phase of her plan.

She reached down to unclip the keys from the first orderly's belt loop, dripping blood across his clean white shirt as she went. She stuffed the keys into her pocket and set about removing their belts. She would need at least 30 seconds or so to explain the endgame of the escape plan to Jason, so she had to hurry. These two wouldn't be unconscious for long.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

As his tongue toured the now familiar territory of her mouth, Eric again marveled at the flavor of her. She tasted of fresh berries and goats milk cream.

When he closed his eyes he could almost see his mother smashing berries in the large bowl his father had carved for her from a block of wood. She would mix the berries with the cream and serve it to Eric and his brothers as a treat. He knew it was unlikely Sookie actually tasted like that, but when he kissed her he always thought of drinking smashed berries and cream.

He kissed her hungrily and she responded with a voraciousness he was challenged to contain. She wrapped herself around him as he pulled her closer into his embrace. Her fang nicked his lower lip when she moved to suck on his chin and the tiny trickle excited her even more. She pushed back against him and leaned to his breast where she playfully licked his hardened nipple before surrounding it with her mouth and biting. Eric flung his head back to his pillow as he savored the feeling of his blood being drawn into her.

Her hand felt its way down the length of his torso as she suckled, her fingers pausing to outline each muscle they passed. "I will never have enough of you," she murmured, softly kissing the two small holes in his breast and watching as they healed before her eyes.

"You have all of me," he whispered cupping her face between his hands.

She smiled and turned her face into his palm. She kissed his hand. Her desire to possess him was matched only by her need to give herself to him completely.

When her hand reached his erection, his hands dropped from her face and squeezed her shoulders. She curled herself over his stomach with her back to him. She watched as his cock twitched in response to her touch. How its color deepened as it swelled and its head peeked at her from within the protective walls of its foreskin.

She felt the shiver run through him when her tongue teased it with quick little licks and the way his hands gripped her back as she slid her mouth slowly over the head told her she did indeed have all of him. He was hers, to do with as she pleased.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

"Are you strong?" Elinor whispered when she'd opened his door.

Jason looked at the woman standing in his doorway. She was tall, probably pretty close to six feet and broadly built, but not fat, just big. He tried to look around her to see if she was really alone. "Elinor?"

"Are you strong?" she repeated, but she could see from looking at him, he was. He was wearing a tight white T-shirt with the sleeves ripped out. Clearly he worked out regularly. He was in ideal shape to be an animal handler.

"Yeah, I'm strong enough," he said, slapping his bicep and offering up a toothy grin.

"Strong enough to tame a tiger?" Elinor asked.

She got no immediate response and she didn't want to be forced to take the time to evaluate the confused expression on his face, so she pressed forward. "You'll be able to do it."

"Do what?" he asked. The look on his face hadn't changed.

Elinor handed him the two belts she was holding and the set of keys from her pocket. Anyone seeing only his features might think she had just handed him something he couldn't identify.

"I don't believe you know where you are, my friend and we don't have time for lengthy conversations at the moment. Suffice it to say you are being held in a sanitarium for supernaturals, mostly shifters. You know about them, right?"

His expression morphed to irritation. "I ought to I–"

"Good." She cut him off. She didn't have time to chit-chat. "I'm a Were-tiger. I'm going to shift and you're going to use one of those belts as a collar, then thread the other through the collar for a leash.

You're going to wrap the end of the leash, very tight, around your hand and we're going to wait until someone comes looking for the two orderlies in my room."

"Did you kill them?" Jason asked.

"Knocked them out," she said with a proud smile. "We don't need to kill anyone. They'll let us leave. All we have to do is make them feel threatened.

So when we hear them coming, we'll go running out of this room. I don't know how fast a runner you are, but make sure you stay behind me. We're playing good-cop, bad-cop and I'm the bad cop. You're the one keeping me in control and protecting them from me. I'll pull against you to frighten them and you'll hold me back to defend them, so at all costs you have to keep hold of that leash.

If someone gets the tranquilizer gun, ignore it. If they shoot, they'll shoot me not you. They might threaten you, but as long as you're holding that leash, they won't shoot you. If they shoot me, it won't matter, I can take it without falling and we can do a lot of convincing before they have time to reload. Got it?"

"Yeah, got it," he said. They both looked to the door before he could say anything else. Someone was coming.

"It's show time," she whispered.

Seconds later there was an enormous tiger standing next to him. She nudged his arm to remind him about the belts. He buckled the longer one around her neck and looped the other through, then quickly wrapped the end twice around his hand. "Let's go," he said confidently.

Elinor bounded out the door and into the hall practically dragging Jason behind her.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Sookie kneaded his inner thighs as she swallowed hard, taking everything he had to give into her. He clutched handfuls of blanket and let out a full throated roar of a moan as his body conceded to her will. A series of smaller moans accompanied his spasms as she sucked the last from him before freeing him from her mouth.

She moved attentions back to his chest as he lay with his eyes closed luxuriating in his pleasure. "I believe I love you best like this," she purred.

"At your mercy?" he chuckled.

"Content."

"I am so much more than contented, my love." He pulled her to his side and softly kissed her lips before moving to her breast. His hand glided down her body as he sucked, her legs parting for him when he reached her thigh.

He knew every inch of her. No bit of her flesh had gone untouched, unexplored. He played her like an instrument, eliciting precisely the sounds he wanted from her. In his mind he was conducting his own private symphony. A caress here for a sigh, a nibble there for a moan, two fingers massaging just so inside her to make her cry out and his tongue teasing her clit to tempt her body to beg him for more.

This was best. When she was so aroused she couldn't speak, when her moans and cries almost formed words as her hips repositioned and rocked into him in pleading attempts to compel him to take her clit in his mouth and bring her to climax, her screams of ecstasy when he finally did.

How luscious, the taste of her sticky sweetness, even more so for knowing much of it was a result of how much she had enjoyed having him in her mouth. His tongue took long slow laps, savoring each rhythmic undulation of her body beneath him, feeling the jolt when she gasped as the tip of his nose inadvertently brushed the tightly swollen flesh of her waiting clit. It was time to make her scream.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

A female orderly and a male nurse were coming down the hall. They both froze upon seeing the tiger. They didn't even notice Jason until he screamed at them.

"Get behind me," he yelled. The hall dead ended at the room Jason had occupied. There was no exit to the outside. Apparently the fire laws didn't apply when you were designing a building to contain supes.

The man and woman didn't move. But this was Elinor's play and she was prepared to insist the actors play their parts according to her plan. She lunged at them.

Jason responded perfectly. He yanked back on the leather belt and when she went with it, it looked as though he was powerful enough to control her. He pulled the leash close to him and she appeared to struggle against it, pawing the air as if trying to reach the two huddled humans against the wall, at least one of whom had peed their pants.

"I said, get behind me," Jason growled at them. "And don't think going into a room and locking the door will protect you." He jangled the set of keys he had hooked to his belt loop.

The two scrambled to their feet and ran to Elinor's door. It was the man who had peed. The woman screamed again when she saw the two men lying on Elinor's floor. Good, reviving them would keep these two busy.

Elinor and Jason ran to the end of the hall. Five feet to the left was the nurses desk. A total of five orderlies and nurses, no doctors, at least none Elinor recognized. And here was the barred electronic door. Beyond that, the door outside, Elinor could see it. Freedom. She roared.

"Open that door," Jason instructed nervously.

"You know we can't do that, sir," was the response he got from a man standing at the end of the nurses station counter.

Jason furrowed his brows. He too could feel how close he was to the outside. "Fine," he said in an amazingly even tone. "Then tell me how many you want to die." He gave a slight sideways nod and pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. "Those four back there enough? Or do you wanna go too? Maybe that cute little redhead there as well?"

The redhead whimpered and stumbled back against the wall.

Jason grinned his favorite grin. The one he saved for when he had thought of something terribly clever to say at exactly the right time to say it. "Unless you're up for a little game of Romans and Christians, I suggest you open that door."

Elinor was hissing and snarling at his side. He reached down and ruffled the fur behind her ear then patted her neck. "Because I think we all know who the Romans are in this situation."

They never found out who hit the lock release, but the door buzzed. Jason held the door for Elinor and they were gone.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Eric engulfed her inflamed clit between his lips and gently sucked, holding her firmly to him as she lost control of her movements and screamed her euphoria. He would never tire of this. He loved her too much. And he was ready to love her again.

He crawled up her quivering body, hooking her knees in the crooks of his elbows as he went. She screamed his name and clutched his forearms when he entered her, still hot and swollen from her orgasm. It wouldn't take long to bring her there again.

Sookie was spent, but she tried to keep up, feeling him inside her was too good to pass up, if she was conscious she was more than willing to offer his cock a warm and welcoming place to spend some time. She arched back and held his hands as he plunged harder, faster, deeper into her. Just as the first wave of her second orgasm hit, he groaned and slammed into her, holding his position as he released deep within her.

For more than half an hour they lay silently in one another's arms, blissfully ignoring the world outside their bedroom walls.

But life, even for the undead, has a nasty habit of demanding its quid pro quo. The balance must be maintained. Eric's phone began ringing. They tried to ignore it, but whoever was on the other end would have no part of it. They insisted on an audience via telephone with the king.

Eric grudgingly reached over and groped around on his bedside table for his phone. He listened intently to whatever the person on the other end was saying. "Is she talking? – Will she deliver tonight? – We'll be there within the hour." He slapped his phone down and got up. "Get dressed," he said to Sookie. "We're going to the clinic. The girl is talking and Conall is dead."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**.**

As Eric drove, Sookie listened to David excitedly tell her what she already knew. Conall was the father of Candia's babies. The clinic Dr. Ludwig uses in New Orleans is the same one where David's New Orleans friend works, the friend who helped him get the blood for the Taste of Louisiana gift boxes.

"It was the weirdest coincidence that he even noticed," David gushed. "But Dr. Ludwig sent Conall Bayer's blood work for a physical to the lab and he has hemochromatosis, it's a genetic thing where iron builds up in your blood. No big deal for werewolves, Evan does the reports and sends the good doctor her copies, never gonna think about it again.

Then just over a week later, he gets blood work for a pregnant werewolf and her fetuses, and what do you think? The fetuses have hemochromatosis, but not the mother, so it has to have come from the father. Again not so big of a deal, do the paperwork and move on, but Evan notices an odd notation on the paperwork for the fetuses: 'possible product of rape'.

Well, Evan remembers this Bayer guy and that he was a werewolf as well, so just on the off chance, he runs DNA and voila, they're a match two baby girl werewolves fathered by Conall Bayer. He calls me right away because I've asked him to let me know whenever he comes across anything interesting about the supes in my area."

David's voice lowered to a whisper. "I hear things in the course of my work. People talk freely when they're giving blood. I know there's a werewolf girl, pregnant with twins, who says she was raped by your brother. I'm thinking this has to be her. There can't be more than one teenage werewolf carrying twins and claiming she was raped out of town. So unless your brother is a werewolf, he's in the clear. I can email you the reports or fax them, just tell me where."

"Hold on," Sookie said, holding the phone aside as she relayed the information to Eric. She gave David one of Eric's email accounts and assured him of her gratitude for his service.

Twenty-eight minutes after receiving the call from Saule, Eric's red corvette pulled up in front of Dr. Ludwig's clinic. Sookie didn't wait for him to open her door. Seconds later they were both standing in the middle of the silent hall near the reception desk.

"Candia Gray's room, please," Sookie whispered to the human woman, who clearly recognized Eric, then slowly deduced Sookie's identity. She was in awe.

"Speak, woman," Eric demanded.

"Room one-twenty-two, straight up this hall, on the left, just past the first turn," the woman said quickly.

They both moved immediately in the direction the woman pointed, Sookie taking two steps to Eric's one in order to keep up with him. Just as they reached the room, they blocked Dr. Ludwig, heading out, holding her phone to her ear.

Eric's phone rang, startling everyone. He took it from his pocket, pushed a button and put it back. "I believe you have reached me," he said blandly as she flipped her own phone closed.

"Out!" Dr. Ludwig ordered, making a shooing motion. "And take her with you." She pointed back at Saule.

Neither Eric nor Sookie gave any ground. They remained in the doorway staring into the room, taking in the corpses of both Ted and Conall, both of whom remained where they had been for the last half hour.

Eric spoke to Saule. "Have you explained to the doctor what happened here?"

"I said, get out!" Dr. Ludwig said emphatically. "What are you doing here? You damn near got here before I did. I bet that's an interesting story."

Sookie furrowed her brows and tried to tune Dr. Ludwig out. She began casting glances around the room. She heard … something.

"Take care, doctor," Eric warned. "I am not so fond of you I would suffer any privation at your loss.

"It's good to see you Saule," Sookie said without actually looking at her. Sookie took a step further into the room. "Don't let them kill each other." Sookie nodded toward the doctor and Eric. She was tuning him out too, now.

As Saule approached, Dr. Ludwig reached out and grabbed Sookie's arm. "And just where do you think –"

Saule drew her sword, Eric growled as his fangs extended and the doctor was finally aware of her danger.

Sookie snapped around with a furious expression. "Get out!" she hissed at them. "Let go of my arm, Dr. Ludwig, and all of you, either shut up or get out of here this minute. I don't want to hear another sound from any of you."

Eric and Dr. Ludwig both looked at Sookie as if she'd gone mad. Saule smiled and sheathed her weapon. As Sookie stepped over Conall's body on her way to Candia, she looked back over her shoulder. "You're frightening them."

She smiled at Candia, "Do you know who I am?"

Candia sat stone silent in her bed, eyes wide, not knowing what to think or do as she watched Sookie approach her. With her eyes fixed on Sookie, Candia nodded her head in Eric's direction. "I know who he is," she said.

"Yeah, everyone seems to know who he is. But don't let him scare you. He's the one who sent Saule to protect you." Sookie looked at the bump in the covers caused by Candia's stomach. "All three of you," she whispered. "Talk to them Candia. They need to hear your voice. They're afraid." She glared back at Eric and the doctor who both seemed to shrink from her gaze.

"It's alright," Candia said, rubbing the blanket over her stomach. "We're safe now."

"That's it," Sookie said. "They love the sound of your voice. It comforts them. My name is Sookie. I've wanted to meet you for some time now."

Candia stopped talking and her face clearly showed her fear.

"No, please," Sookie pleaded. "Please don't be afraid. I don't want to harm you or your daughters."

"My daughters?"

"Yes, you have two strong little girls, and I'm sure they'll be as beautiful as their mother." Sookie smiled and tentatively reached toward Candia. "May I?"

Candia nodded and Sookie gently sat on the side of the bed and placed a hand on the blanket. She closed her eyes and her audience watched as she concentrated. "Do you sing to them?" she asked at last.

Candia went red with embarrassment. "Not in front of anybody."

"They like it when you sing. They love you very much already."

Eric and Sookie both looked to the hall. Someone was coming. Sookie asked Saule and Eric to go keep whoever it was, away until they could enter the room quietly. Dr. Ludwig scurried after them.

When they were alone, Candia reached over and put her hand on Sookie's. "I know it isn't enough, but I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you."

Sookie turned her hand so their palms were together and held Candia's hand. "Your actions caused a lot of trouble, Candia," Sookie said softly. "And others have suffered much worse than me because of it.

You're very young. You had a crush and thought you were in love. You did what people do when they're in love. You made sacrifices.

Only you didn't realize you were making them. You sacrificed your family's position, your honor, your integrity. You sacrificed your body when you allowed him to convince you to give yourself to another man and you almost sacrificed your life and the lives of your children.

You thought you were doing what you were supposed to do for the sake of love. But you didn't understand what you were feeling or doing."

"Thank you," Candia whimpered as a tear rolled down her face.

"Fortunately everything you lost, you can get back with some time and effort." Sookie smiled and gently patted Candia's stomach. "Sometimes the sacrifices we make for love can never be recovered."

"Candia!" Sanda ran into the room and almost tripped on Conall before moving to the opposite side of the bed from where Sookie was sitting.

Sookie looked up to find Rafe scowling at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Mostly wondering why it's up to my husband to protect your daughter and grandchildren? Maybe you could explain that?" Sookie stared blankly at him as she stood and when she got no immediate response, she added, "I see. Then perhaps you could manage to at least do something useful and remove these corpses from the room. Surely you could be responsible for that much?"

Sookie could see the rage boiling behind his eyes. He wanted to kill her for daring to speak to him like that. He was wondering just how fast Eric was and if he could snap her neck before Eric got to him. He was just about to try it as she walked by him.

"I wouldn't if I were you," she whispered. "Even if he didn't make it, but I assure you he would, I'm different from the women you're used to bullying. I'm not afraid of you, Mr. Gray."

"Does he threaten you, my love?" Eric had appeared at her side.

She slipped an arm around Eric's waist and smiled up at him. "Not at all, darling. He was about to thank you for providing for his family what he could not."

As Sookie smiled, Rafe grumbled a thank you, then Eric and Sookie left the room.

Alcide was leaning against the wall, outside Candia's door. "Thank you, Eric. I appreciate what you've done."

"The precariousness of her situation was clear to anyone who looked beyond her claims. As you are aware, my beautiful wife is of a most compassionate disposition. I could ill afford the distress it would have caused, had any harm come to the girl or her young."

Alcide turned to Sookie and bowed his head. "Then my gratitude is to you, Your Majesty."

"Jason is innocent. It was Conall." Sookie took the folded sketch from her purse. "It was him who was tormenting the Hot Shot children as well. I had this sketch done last night.

And, Alcide, Candia is carrying two pure females. They'll be very important to the pack. They'll need to be properly cared for and protected. And with Conall dead, she'll be able to have another Were. She trusts you. You make her feel safe."

"The king is a lucky man," Alcide said wistfully before nodding to them both and going into Candia's room.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

"Woohoo! That was great!" Jason whooped as they sped away from The Leanna Institute, the private psychiatric facility for shifters where they had been held.

"Get on the interstate and go west. You'll be getting off at Vista which is only about three miles," Elinor said as soon as she completed her transformation. "We don't have time for celebrations yet. We're going to pick up a car no one will be looking for in Vista. You're going to drive the car we pick up and I'm going to drive this one. You're going to follow me. Then we're going to drive to the other side of Reno to dump this one. Then we can relax a little."

"All business, that works for me," Jason said.

"Good, because we have time for little else. Tomorrow is the full moon. We will need to be settled before then."

"Why don't you go through the glove box and see if maybe you can find any money."

"I doubt I'll find any," she said. "This isn't an antique. It's just an old car. Whoever owns this car has all their money in their pocket."

"Had to be an old one. Can't hotwire the new ones."

"I understand. There will be money in the car we're picking up."

Jason felt as if his heart was racing a million miles an hour. He couldn't remember ever being more excited. Not counting when he was having sex, of course. He had no money, no one he could trust to call for help and no idea what he was doing or where he was going. It was more thrilling than anything he'd ever done.

"I assume you can swim?" Elinor asked.

"Sure."

"Good. We'll have about two thousand feet to swim when we get where we're going."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Jason said cheerfully.

"And that'll be after a ten mile hike."

"Damn! I thought you said we're getting another car?"

"We are, but there are no roads, so we'll have to ditch it before we get there. Here. Take this exit."

Elinor guided Jason through several turns until they arrived in a very modest residential area. Jason parked on the street and together they went to the front door. No one answered. Elinor was disappointed but undeterred when she tried the door and found it locked. They walked around to the side of the house, through the gate and into the back yard.

When they found the back door locked as well, Elinor went to the side door of the garage. It opened right away. Once inside, she felt around on a shelf and came up with two keys on a plain ring. She handed the ring to Jason. "I'll drive the stolen car. You follow me in this one. We're going back to the interstate highway and going west to Lawton." She opened the driver's door of the car for him.

"You said you'd drive the stolen car. Ain't this one stolen too?"

"No," she said with a smile. "This is my car."

"This is your house?"

"Not my house, my car. My daughter lives here. I guess she had someplace to be tonight. We need to hurry. I don't want to be caught here."

"Hell, I don't want to be caught at all," Jason said, looking around the garage suspiciously.

"Then we need to go."

Elinor gave Jason a light shove and he sat down behind the wheel. "Hurry, but don't rev the engine or squeal the tires. We don't want to draw attention."

Jason nodded and Elinor vanished behind him. She opened the garage door and he rolled quietly into the driveway. Elinor closed the door and jogged out to the car they stole from the parking lot of the Leanne Institute. They left the small house less than four minutes from when they'd arrived.

Jason followed Elinor to Lawton, where she parked the stolen car in a grocery store parking lot and had Jason move into the passenger seat of her car. She drove straight back to the highway and headed east.

"I thought we were going west?"

"We can do that later. Right now we need a familiar place to stay for the full moon. You familiar with the area around Reno?"

"Never been here before in my life," Jason answered.

"Then we're limited to the places familiar to me, unless you want to be on your own."

"Let's go hide."

They drove back the way they'd come. They drove past the turn off to the Institute at Hafed about twenty minutes or so, then turned north. Half an hour later they reached a dam.

"This is the reservation," Elinor announced.

"Looks like a dam," Jason said.

Elinor looked at Jason but decided not to say anything. She was in no humor to answer the curiosities of a rapist. "We need to conserve our strength, so let's not talk. Remember, I'm a lot older than you."

Jason smiled, just as if he understood what she was talking about.

Elinor pulled the car close to an embankment and stopped. "We have to push it in the lake. The water's deep enough here to cover it."

Jason got out and helped her push the car into the water without question. Next was the promised ten mile hike, followed by the two thousand foot swim. By the time they reached the tiny island, Jason was exhausted.

"We can't rest yet," Elinor said between heavy breaths. "The island doesn't offer much shelter. We'll have to find someplace where we won't be seen during the day tomorrow. The island is covered with birds. They nest in little overhangs. We'll have to evict someone and see if we can dig it out enough to shelter us both so the tourists don't see us from shore. Let's get to the middle and look for a place there."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

The moment they reached the car, Sookie's phone started to ring. It was Leonas. "I was just about to call you!" Sookie said happily. "We can bring Jason home. Everything's alright now." There was a long pause where Sookie listened, her expression changing from surprise, to shock, to worry and finally to anger, which she displayed in a ferocious glare at Eric.

"Yes, of course, I'll be coming right away. – I believe someplace discreet would be best, thank you. -- Thank you for informing me as quickly as possible and for all you've done for me. I'll see you soon."

Sookie closed her phone and looked at Eric.

"I see you are angry," he began.

"Yes," she said evenly. "But more than angry, I'm disappointed that you don't trust me. You had Saule guarding Candia, now I find out you're holding Frannie Quinn hostage in Las Vegas. Is there anything else going on here I don't know about?"

"Not any more. I felt you had enough on your mind without having minor security concerns as well."

"You felt? What about what I feel? I feel I should be consulted about what is or isn't enough to have on my mind."

"Should you? Do you know the answer to that question? You were consulted before seeing Gage Gordon. You agreed to it. He was too much, but you didn't know it."

"That's not fair, Eric," she said sadly. "It's mean of you to bring him up to me."

Eric reached across the console and took her hand. "My love, you know how it pains me to cause you discomfort, but you must consider, I have seen what happens to you when your mind has had too much. It is a sight and a feeling I do not wish to have repeated. So unless you can identify the line for me, I will not risk crossing it inadvertently by burdening you with every minor concern which finds its way to my desk. I am not so cavalier as to gamble your sanity so casually. I love you much too dearly." He kissed her hand and held it to his lips.

How could she stay mad at him? He made it impossible. She wondered if he could sway the emotions of others so easily, or if the skill only extended to those who were in love with him?

He kissed her hand again before gently returning it to her lap. "I believe you will need this to call Anubis."

"What?"

"I heard Leonas. Your brother has stupidly run away with a mad tiger. I assume we are to join the search."

Sookie gave him her best smile. He really could be wonderful when he wanted to be. "Shouldn't you call? They always listen to you."

Eric laughed as he started his car. "You are a rich queen. They will not only listen to you, they will respond."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Of course, Eric had been right. Anubis had been very accommodating and had immediately arranged a private flight.

Sookie's entourage included Eric, of course, Oliver and two Britlingens to provide security, Mina, both for Oliver and because Sookie had come to rely on having her near, and three donors, just in case. Of course, Vivienne would be expected to provide donors in Las Vegas, but it was better to be prepared for any possible glitches in the system.

Eric had said he was accompanying her to help her search for Jason, but Sookie suspected it had a lot more to do with the fact Jason had escaped with Quinn's mother, so Quinn was likely to be searching as well.

If there was any chance she might cross paths with Quinn, Eric had no intention of allowing her to do it without him right there to make sure there was no attempt made to annex any part of his personal territory.

Despite being the most powerful creature she'd ever seen, probably one of the most powerful in the country, when it came right down to it, Eric was just like any other male. It didn't matter how many assurances he was given. When push came to shove he needed to mark what was his and stand over it, daring any other male to try and wrest it from him.

John Quinn was one of the few men who might actually take that challenge. She knew if Eric and Quinn were ever in the same room during this trip, Jason and Elinor wouldn't matter to either of them. There would be an epic stare down and display of tail feathers and if either so much as blinked, there would be a fight.

Sookie was just as confident in this knowledge as she was there was absolutely nothing she could say or do to prevent it. She stared out the small window and watched the crystal clear night sky pass by them. She sighed heavily and laid her head on Eric's shoulder.

"Do not fret, Dearest," he said softly, giving her a light squeeze. "He will be found."

He had misinterpreted her sigh, but she didn't correct him. She knew he enjoyed feeling he was comforting her. She allowed him that and snuggled into his shoulder. Regardless of what happened in Nevada, she was confident he loved her above all things.

There it was, the tiny dot of light on the ground, far in the distance, growing and becoming more colorful as they approached it. If nothing else, flying in to Las Vegas at night was a sight not to be missed.

Despite all the glitter and lights, Sookie's eyes sought only the garish red neon spiders of the Oubliette at the end of the strip. As they came into view, she watched as they scaled the sides of the building and crawled over onto the roof. It looked like armies of them, always going up, feeding the monsters inside and never coming down again.

Sookie got Frannie's room number and left the office. She had no doubt Eric and Vivienne could both organize a search better than she could, so she set out to do what she could do best, interview a human woman.

Room 533, Vivienne had given her a nice room. Since the floors were numbered upside down at the Oubliette, room 533 would actually be on the twenty-first floor. She would have a fabulous view.

Sookie, Mina and the two Britlingens stepped out of the elevator and it was immediately clear which room held Frannie, the one with the guard outside. Sookie walked directly to him and said, "My name is Sookie. Do you recognize it?"

The guard bowed his head. "Yes, Your Majesty."

Sookie smiled. It was nice when things were easy. "I'm here to see your guest. I'll be taking her with me. You may of course call your mistress for verification of this. Open the door, please."

The guard nodded and opened the door.

"You two take the door," she said to the Britlingens. "Mina, come with me."

Clio jumped up from her seat across from the television and ran to the door, almost colliding with Sookie. "Your Majesty, my mistress said you were coming before dawn. I'm afraid Miss Quinn is sleeping now."

Sookie reached down and lightly touched Clio's head. "Get up, Clio and go wake her. Then I need you to pack her things and enough of your own for three days. I'm going to ask Vivienne if you can join us for a few days."

"I'm sure my mistress would be happy to oblige Your Majesty. It would be the least we could do for the generosity you have shown to us."

"I guess so. You go pack her things and tell her to come out here." Sookie was tired. The flight had seemed to last forever and they still had to fly to Reno before sunup. She didn't have time to listen to a lot of grateful ass kissing right now, no matter how sincere.

A few minutes later, Frannie came out of the master bedroom with her arms folded in front of her. She glared directly at Sookie. "Your Majesty rang?"

Sookie ignored the sarcasm and smiled. "As I'm sure you're aware, you are not required to recognize me as queen, since you are not a vampire or a pet or employee of vampires. You may call me Lady Northman. Please, sit, Miss Quinn."

"How about we stop pretending either of us gives a shit whether the other one lives or dies and get to the point. Why are you here?"

Mina audibly gasped and stared at Frannie in disbelief. Even Jason, who was horribly informal and sometimes raised his voice in anger, had never spoken like this in Sookie's presence. No wonder Sookie had chosen to visit this woman alone. The King would have silenced her permanently for such rude behavior.

"It's alright, Mina dear," Sookie said as she patted Mina's hand. "Frannie is under the impression I treated her brother badly. She's seen his pain but hasn't wondered if I suffered too."

Frannie scoffed at Sookie's words. "How much did you suffer when my brother was forbidden to enter Louisiana? We had regular business in New Orleans, you know? Any little suffering you did was more than offset by your crown, I think."

"You're right, of course," Sookie conceded. "My suffering was probably smaller in comparison. Mine was only the disappointment of knowing if a man with a gun forced my lover to choose one to die, there were two other women he would choose to live before me.

My crown gives me access, but little else. However it was a gift from my husband and he gives me great comfort and happiness.

Sit down, Frannie. We need to talk."

Frannie plopped onto the sofa and glared. Sookie delved right into her questions.

"I need to know if you and your mother had ever talked about Jason before your visit to her on Wednesday."

"Not that I recall." She was telling the truth.

"How did you hear about the trouble he's having?"

"A Were who works as a waiter for me sometimes. Apparently it was a big joke at a pack meeting a week or so ago." Frannie grinned, thinking she had gotten in a dig, but Sookie was smart enough to know it was good the Weres knew about the situation. That meant it would take a lot less explanation to get any updates out.

Sookie went through a brief explanation of the events with Candia, from her original accusation to the events of earlier this evening. Frannie disliked Sookie, but not so much she would take pleasure in seeing an innocent man killed for a crime he didn't commit.

"I'm honestly sorry about your brother. I even apologize about spreading the story, but I spread it to a woman who's locked up. I didn't take over a radio station and announce it to everyone in Washoe County. That hardly seems like a serious enough crime for me to be held prisoner for it."

"It isn't. That's why I'm taking you out of here. I'm taking you with me to Reno. We're leaving in just a few minutes."

Frannie didn't like the sound of this. "Why would you come all the way from Louisiana to take me back to Reno?"

"Did your mother have any friends at the Institute?" Sookie asked, as she watched the cogs in Frannie's mind madly spinning. It would be better to let her figure it out for herself and she was so close.

"She was kept in solitary confinement," Frannie said sadly. "She rarely saw anyone aside from the orderlies. Occasionally she would talk through the walls to people in adjoining cells. There was a new man in the ---" Frannie looked into Sookie's eyes. It had clicked. "In the cell next to her. A vampire came to sit with him every night. Click. It was your brother. He hadn't run away at all. You were hiding him."

"Not me, but on my behalf, yes."

"Wow. Well I'm really sorry I said anything to her now, especially. When we get to the Institute, we'll need to arrange for one of them to be moved." Click. "Oh my god, tomorrow is the full moon! Mamma will need to be put in restraints. She'll tear the place apart with him next door."

"Why?" Sookie asked. "What's different now?" Even as she asked, she saw the story in Frannie's mind of how her mother was raped and how she still harbored an uncontrollable rage over it, a rage which spilled over onto any sex offender she heard of.

"He isn't safe anywhere near her," Frannie almost screamed. Her face had gone white and her voice was frantic.

Anyone but Sookie would have thought it was concern for the innocent Jason which had her in such a tizzy, but Sookie could see the truth. Yes, there was concern for Jason mingled in there, but her panic was mostly fear for her mother. If Elinor hurt the brother of the Queen, even John wouldn't be able to get her out of it. Not if he pledged to spend the rest of his life in the pits.

"We need to leave right away," Frannie said urgently.

"There's a plane refueling at the airport right now. Clio is getting your things."

"To hell with my things!" Frannie screamed, jumping up from her seat, causing Mina to quickly step in front of Sookie.

How sweet, Sookie thought. The silly girl is protecting a vampire from this ranting human woman. Sookie took Mina's hand and guided her backwards to sit on the arm of Sookie's overstuffed chair.

"Frannie, please sit down. Ranting won't make the plane take on fuel any faster. We'll be leaving in a half hour or so."

Frannie collapsed back into the sofa as Clio came out of the bedroom pulling a suitcase.

"Very good, Clio, now go and get a few days worth of clothes for you and wait for us in the lobby. We'll be leaving shortly," Sookie said to her.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Clio said with a nod and scurried out of the suite.

"Frannie," Sookie began softly. "Do you have any idea where your mother would run away to, if she left the Institute?"

Frannie's body froze and Sookie watched intently as her mind began racing again. Her mother must have escaped again. Why would the vampires care about that? Oh no. She must have gotten into Jason's room and killed him before escaping.

"Why would you think that?" Sookie demanded.

"What?"

"Why would you think your mother must have already killed Jason?"

Good god, it was true. John had said Sookie was a telepath, but Frannie had always believed it was a bunch of hocus-pocus she'd used to con the vampires.

"Why else would you be interested in her escaping?" Frannie asked.

"They escaped together," Sookie answered.

"I don't understand," Frannie said. It was true she was confused, her mother always escaped alone.

"Cat and mouse," Frannie said, folding over forward as if she was about to throw up.

"Excuse me?"

"Mamma would see them on the news sometimes," Frannie said into her hands. "People accused of different sex crimes, rapes, whatever. And she would always say how much she'd love to get her hands on them for a nice long game of cat and mouse. Where she could chase them all night and mangle them little bits at a time, make them suffer as much as their victims had suffered."

Sookie sat back in her chair as she processed this new information.

"We have all day," Frannie offered. "She'll wait for night so she can have the cover of darkness. So when he screams it will be harder to follow."

Sookie looked into Frannie's eyes. "There won't be any screams to follow. If she waits for moonrise, she may have more of a game than she bargained for. My brother is a Werepanther. No doubt she can defeat him, but if I know Jason, he won't be an easy mouse to catch. Hopefully that will buy us enough time to find them."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

.

When Sookie and her group arrived at the hangar Eric was standing in the door of the plane.

"He doesn't look like a man who likes to be kept waiting," Frannie said.

"He has all the time in the world," Sookie laughed in response. She was determined to try and keep the mood as light hearted as possible.

"I was beginning to wonder if you had changed your mind and neglected to inform me of the change in plans," Eric said, extending a hand to Sookie as she reached the top of the stairs.

"Not at all, my darling," she replied with an adoring smile. "In fact I was just telling Frannie, you were the very soul of patience."

"More so with some than with others, my love." He kissed her hand and released it as she entered the plane, in order to offer his hand to Frannie. "Welcome aboard, Miss Quinn."

Frannie stared into Eric's palm, taking in his long elegant fingers before tentatively placing her hand in his. How enticing he was. She was obliged to hate him, because she blamed him for luring Sookie away and causing her to break John's heart. But if anyone was going to be lured, this was certainly the silken baritone and velvet touch that could do it.

Much to her amazement, she found herself disappointed he merely guided her up the remaining step and into the cabin, rather than kissing her hand as well. She was embarrassed to confess, only to herself of course, a nagging curiosity over just how soft those lips might be.

"Every bit as soft as they appear," Sookie whispered as she took Frannie's hand. "And even softer to the touch."

Frannie whipped her head around to find herself face to face with Sookie. She'd forgotten Sookie could hear her thoughts. "I'm sorry," she stammered. "I didn't mean –"

Sookie scoffed and smiled. "Of course you did, but it's alright. He has that effect on everyone. If I wasted my time being jealous every time someone had a curious or lustful thought about my husband, I'd have no time left for anything else. And right now there are other things which need our attention. Come."

Sookie led Frannie to the back of the plane. Oliver and Ferdinand both stood as they approached. "This is Oliver Mayer, our head of security and I'm afraid I don't know the other gentleman. Oliver, would you be so kind?"

"We've met," Frannie said stiffly.

Oliver glared at Frannie for speaking out of turn. "Your Majesty, my I present Ferdinand Rodriguez. He was charged with looking after your brother in Reno. It was he, who brought Miss Quinn to Las Vegas."

"I am prepared to accept any punishment Your Majesty deems appropriate for failing my task." Ferdinand bowed low to Sookie and did not rise.

"My brother is famously foolish, Mr. Rodriguez. And I'm told he and Ms. Quinn made their escape before sundown. As much as I'd like to have someone else to blame, I'm afraid Jason, as usual, is responsible for his own troubles."

"You could give him a few lashes for shoving me in his car trunk," Frannie said bitterly.

Sookie turned her attention to Frannie. "I must insist you be polite, Frannie. Every detail of your transport was told to me. You were removed from the trunk as soon as there were no witnesses to see you there. And considering the conversation Mr. Rodriguez overheard between you and your mother, it would not have been unreasonable for him to have simply killed you and disposed of the body. Fortunately for both of us, he had the forethought to keep from doing anything quite so drastic.

Now, we can be civilized and have polite conversations and I can get the information I need. Or you can be glamoured and I can get the information I need and you'll be left forever wondering what happened to you during that gap in your memory."

Frannie sank into the closest seat without making a sound.

"Yes," Sookie said. "I think we should all take our seats. We'll get down to business once we're up in the air. If you'll excuse me Frannie, I'll be joining my husband for take-off."

Sookie walked back up to the front of the plane, leaving Frannie to think about her options. Though she didn't have to think for long.

"Mina, my dear," Oliver called. Mina had just finished stowing things in overhead compartments and was about to have a seat. "Please sit with me." He held out a hand to her and she smiled sweetly as she came to him and allowed him to guide her to a seat opposite Ferdinand, at a table.

Before sitting himself, he scowled down at Frannie. "I have a series of maps. When Her Majesty returns to us, I would like to have the correct map open. Tell me where you think the cat will most likely go to play during the full moon."

"There's no probably to it," Frannie said without looking up at Oliver. "She'll go to the Paiute reservation. Don't bother trying to get their help. They don't trust vampires and Mamma is part of one of their legends. They won't help you hunt her. And if they know that's what you're doing there, they'll try their best to hinder you, or stop you if they can."

"And how do I know I can trust you?" Oliver asked.

Frannie looked up now. It was very late and she was tired. "I guess you don't really. I don't know how long it's been since you were human, Mr. Mayer, but you may recall we're not all idiots. I know my mother will try to kill Jason Stackhouse. I also know that if she succeeds, you or someone who works for you will kill her. I don't want my mother to die. Therefore, I'm smart enough to realize it's in my best interest to cooperate with you as best I can, in hopes we can find them before she harms him beyond repair."

"Thank you, Miss Quinn," he replied and went back to the table and reached into the overhead compartment to retrieve a handful of rolled up maps. He sat down next to Mina and began going through them to decide which one gave the best view and most information about the area around Pyramid Lake.

When the plane reached it's cruising altitude, both Eric and Sookie came to the table in the rear. Oliver stood and extended a hand to Mina.

Sookie placed her hands on Mina's shoulders. "She's fine where she is, Oliver." She looked over to Frannie. "Will you join us, Frannie?"

Frannie came and sat in the seat Oliver left.

Eric looked down at the map carefully spread out on the table. "Where is this place?"

"Almost thirty-five miles north of our accommodations. An American Indian reservation, we will not be welcomed by the residents." Oliver said.

"The Paiute People," Frannie added. "They are more accepting of shifters since animals are prominent in their legends and myths. Vampires are only bringers of death."

Eric ignored her remark. Oliver was visibly offended and Sookie felt Mina stiffen. Sookie patted Mina's shoulder and asked, "So will they fear us or will they try to kill us?"

Frannie met Sookie's gaze. "I've never seen them around vampires, so I can't be completely certain, but like most indigenous people they're peaceful unless threatened. I sincerely doubt they'll form a war party, if that's what you're asking."

"I wasn't thinking of anything quite so dramatic or patronizing, but if you have nothing more useful to add on that topic, we'll move on," Sookie said.

"I don't think they'll come after you without being provoked," Frannie added quickly. "But if they realize what you're doing, they might consider that a provocation. Mamma is important to them."

"How so?" Eric asked.

Frannie pointed to a tiny spot on the eastern side of the lake. "There's a rock formation here, called the Stone Mother. She was their Eve, the mother of everyone. She had a disobedient son who displeased the Father so the Father banished him to the east. The Mother missed him more each day and eventually sat down and began to cry. Her salty tears formed the lake and she sat and cried until she turned to stone.

When I was little, Mamma had gone onto the reservation for the full moon and she came across a group of guys who had cans of spray paint and were about to paint graffiti on the Stone Mother. Mamma frightened them away. Two young Paiute girls saw what she did. They stood up and Mamma looked up at them, but of course she didn't attack, she just left.

The two girls ran down and picked up the cans of paint and ran back home and told their parents about the great striped cat who had protected the Stone Mother.

When the story became known, several others told of seeing the Great Cat. So she's worked her way into their mythology now. They revere her. If they think you've come to harm her, they may try to defend her."

"Dearest, what does Jason look like when he has shifted?"

"I've never actually seen him," Sookie answered. "But from what he's said, he looks kind of like a skinny, mangy jaguar."

"Delightful," Eric said, making no attempt to disguise his revulsion, even for Sookie's sake. "Oliver, when we land, take Miss Quinn, Clio and the Britlingens with you and go to see if you can find anyone on the reservation to talk to before sunrise.

Tell them a cat from our territory was stolen and we heard it was released in this unfamiliar place. It is much beloved by our people in Shreveport and we are very concerned for its safety. We have heard of the Great Cat of the Paiute People and we fear our smaller cat might offend the Great Cat.

We seek their consent to search for our cat on their lands. Etcetera, etcetera, tell them we won't hurt anything and we pose no danger to them or their Great Cat. See what kind of reaction you get."

For over an hour they poured over maps as Frannie pointed out various features of the lake, the surrounding ATV trails, different terrain. Nearly a forth of the reservation was taken up by the surface of Pyramid Lake, but that still left well over five hundred fifty square of miles of potential hiding places. They needed help.

Eric and Sookie took Ferdinand and Mina with them and left immediately as soon as the plane landed. A waiting car took them directly to the Leanna Institute.

"Anna," Sookie said when she saw the sign.

"Leonas still searches for a way to reach her mind," Eric said.

"I should have tried when she was here. Perhaps Barry and I together could have reached her. We never tried to see into a vampire."

Eric looked curiously at Sookie. "And since your turning have you tried?"

Sookie laughed at him. "Not to worry, my darling. You're every bit as mysterious to me as you ever were."

Eric smiled and kissed her hand. "Ferdinand, have you ever seen a creature more extraordinary than my Queen?"

"Never, Your Majesty."

Sookie scoffed and pulled her hand back. "That's hardly fair, Eric. What could poor Ferdinand say to a question like that? And with me sitting right here? He is much too polite and I'm sure much too fond of having his head attached to his shoulders to answer differently."

Ferdinand smiled at Sookie. "I assure your Majesty, I was sincere. And if I may add to my remark, I expected no less of a woman to occupy the arm and heart of the conquering warrior I saw confidently striding into the Oubliette such a short time ago. Having now seen his motivation I can easily understand his determination."

Sookie was laughing heartily as she looked at Eric. "There, you see! His flattery isn't limited to women." She turned to Ferdinand. "I understand exactly what you mean. I've seen him fight as well. I'll never forget it. He was magnificent."

The limo came to a stop at the front door of The Leanne Institute.

The moment they entered the building, Eric said, "Sookie, do not leave my side."

She was already walking beside him, but she felt an odd compulsion to be even nearer. She took a step closer and he casually placed an arm around her shoulders. When they reached the nurses desk she saw why. John Quinn was talking to a man who appeared to be either a doctor or some kind of administrator.

Mina stood quietly beside Sookie, unsure of what to expect or why she had been brought along.

Quinn fell silent for a moment when he realized who had joined the growing crowd at the nurse's station. As Quinn locked eyes with Eric, Sookie edged even closer and slipped her arm around Eric's waist, entwining her fingers in his shirt so he couldn't make any sudden moves without injuring her.

"Very perceptive move, my love," Eric said to her with a smile.

"Someone's been teaching me strategies," she whispered, though she couldn't return his smile.

"What are you two doing here?" Quinn demanded.

Ferdinand stepped in front of Eric and Sookie, standing between them and Quinn."Their Majesties are answerable to no one save King Leonas in this realm."

"Calm yourself, Mr. Rodriguez. Mr. Quinn is an old friend. Look, Dearest, Mr. Quinn is here."

"Hello, John," Sookie said softly. "Any news of your mother?"

"I didn't believe it when I heard you'd let him turn you, but I see it's true. I can't tell you how sad I am about that," John said. "What are you doing here, Sookie?"

Ferdinand moved to take another step toward Quinn, but Sookie reached out and put a hand in front of him, stopping his progress.

"My Queen does not require your protection from the cat, Ferdinand. She moves to protect him from us."

"Eric, please," Sookie said. The taunting edge in Eric's voice was almost too much to be tolerated. She looked at Quinn and decided not to respond to his personal remarks in such a public setting. She turned to the man talking to Quinn. "I'm Sookie Northman. It was my brother who escaped with Mrs. Quinn. Is there any news?"

"No one told me she took anyone with her," Quinn growled.

"My brother was being held here secretly, John. He had been falsely accused of a crime. Coincidentally, we were able to clear him just a few hours ago. If they hadn't escaped together I would be here now to take him home."

"They stole a car in the parking lot. The police found it in a parking lot east of Reno. Another car was stolen from that same parking lot."

"So they're heading to California?" Sookie asked. Quinn was thinking about a file he saw on the desk behind her. "Why were the human authorities alerted?"

"It looks that way. Mamma has a cousin in Needles. I figure that's where she's headed."

"In answer to your second question, Mrs. Northman," the other man added. "The authorities have not been notified. We maintain a high level of discretion here at the Institute. As part of that, we keep a police scanner for just this type of emergency. We have been monitoring the police, sheriff and emergency frequencies.

I am Marcus Winters, Executive Administrator for The Leanne Institute. Anything we can do to aide in the recovery of your brother and Mrs. Quinn is, of course, at your disposal."

Sookie not correcting him when he'd addressed her as Mrs. Northman was one thing, but when she released her grip on his shirt and Eric saw her about to extend her arm to shake Mr. Winters' hand, he reacted instantly, taking her hand and leaning to brush his lips across it. "My wife is a Queen among our kind, Mr. Winters. Though you are under no traditional obligation to recognize her as such, she is entitled, even among humans, to the title of Lady Northman."

"Of course," Mr. Winters responded with a genuine smile. "My apologies, Lady Northman. I was unaware of your rank."

"It's alright, Mr. Winters. This is my husband, Lord Northman." Eric nodded formally and stood behind her. "There is something you could do for me. Would it be possible to see all of your patients? I'd like to know if anyone knew anything that might be helpful to us in our search."

"Certainly, Lady Northman. That can be arranged, though I doubt I can arrange interviews with everyone before sunrise. If you'd care to return at sundown tomorrow –"

"I don't need to interview everyone. Do you have a large room you could simply bring them into and I could stand in the doorway and ask a couple of questions."

Sookie could see Marcus Winters was confused by the request, but didn't want to question her about it. He assumed Eric would not be pleased about having her challenged and he had wisely determined keeping Eric pleased was probably in his best interest.

"All but the four others housed on the wing your brother and Elinor formerly occupied can be brought into the day room." He nodded at a group of orderlies standing nearby and they scuttled off, presumably to gather the patients.

"If you'll follow me, we'll visit the four." He walked passed Eric and Sookie and through the metal detector in front of the desk.

As they turned Sookie glanced down at the desk. There was the file propped up and perfectly visable from several feet away, Therapeutic Sewing Patterns. Perfect. Needles. Just as she'd suspected, Quinn had lied to her.

Marcus Winters led them down the hall. They started at the end. Sookie saw the cell where her brother had been kept. Even though it was clearly the largest cell in this wing and it had obviously be made more comfortable for him, she felt pangs of sympathy and guilt fro having left him here.

She found nothing either in the empty rooms or the minds of the remaining residents of this hall. As they made their way back to the nurse's desk and around to the day room where everyone else was gathered, Mr. Winters went through a brief explanation of how they had made their escape. He added in a shot from the tranquilizer gun for good measure. To make it seem more effort was made to stop them.

Sookie stood, flanked by Eric and Ferdinand and stared into the room which had been designed to hold far fewer people at once. Many wandered aimlessly, as many as could find seats simply sat looking lost very few showed any interest in the three vampires in the door.

"What do you see, my love?" Eric asked after about a minute.

"Mostly confusion and fear. They don't understand why their schedule has been altered." She looked around and raised her voice slightly so they could hear her. "Does anyone ever talk to a tiger?"

Still mostly confusion, a few thoughts of sex, one thinking of a heavy wooden door unlike anything in this building, many wondering what bizarre new therapy this was.

"The tiger is behind you," one middle-aged woman will long gray hair said. Sookie couldn't tell if she was referring to Quinn or if she was just raving.

"This is a waste of time," Sookie announced, turning and slipping an arm around Eric's waist. "If you have nothing more, Mr. Winters, we'll be on our way."

"Unfortunately, I don't, Lady Northman."

"John, do you have any information to help me find my brother?"

"I want to find them as much as you do, Sookie."

"I'm sure you do." She looked up at Eric. "Let's go."

In seconds they were back in the limo, with Sookie leaning her head on Eric's shoulder and holding Mina's hand for comfort. "Mina," she said softly. "I hope you got a good look at John Quinn."

"Yes, Mistress. I saw him clearly."

"Good. Almost everything he said was a lie. Unfortunately, I don't believe he knows where his mother is, but he doesn't think she's headed either east or for Needles, California.

The point is, he'll be looking for her tomorrow as well and probably in the same areas Frannie will suggest looking. He doesn't know we have her with us, so you must avoid crossing paths with him. "

"I wouldn't want to cross paths with him again," Mina said.

"Just so long as you'll recognize him if you see him. That's the main thing. Frannie has been telling us the truth, but I don't want to risk her breaking and running. We need her. So you won't be able to break up your group tomorrow. The four of you will need to stay together.

You, Clio and Frannie will need to take one Britliingen with you and leave one with us to stand guard. Then cover the two towns within the reservation. Go to all the motels and hotels, see if Frannie knows of any particular places her mother is fond of going. You'll have pictures. You can show them to people, but don't leave them with anyone. We don't want to leave evidence of our search with them. When we leave we don't want to have left behind any reason for them to think about us again."

"I understand, Mistress."

Sookie was grateful to climb into the shower, even if it was only about a quarter the size of their shower at home. And when Eric joined her, despite the lack of space, she was grateful for that as well. Nothing quite like a little cramped sex against a shower wall to take your mind off your troubles.

Eric barely made it to the bed with his spent and sleeping bride before the sunrise demanded he too give in to the call of slumber.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

The humans and Britlingens in the party slept only a little more than three hours before getting up to begin their search.

The two Britlingens, Kay, a tall, curvaceous dark haired beauty who looked to be in her mid twenties and Lena, a slender girl of maybe twenty-one with thick waves of bright red hair tumbling down her back, almost to her rear end, were dressed as casual tourists, barely recognizable from how they appeared only hours ago. Kay would be staying with the vampires and Lena would serve as driver and accompany Mina, Clio and Frannie onto the reservation for the day. If Frannie decided to bolt and run, it would be Lena's responsibility to retrieve her. With the temperature expected to reach 87˚ by mid-afternoon, the uniform of the day was shorts and T-shirts for all.

Frannie had them drive by her house first, so they now knew her mother had a car, but as far as she could tell they hadn't gotten into the house, so no clothes or money. The car was full of gas, but with no money, they were limited in how far they could get. But knowing Elinor had a car also told them the car stolen west of Reno was only a diversion.

Frannie was more certain that ever Elinor was somewhere on the reservation. They reached Wadsworth, at the southern tip of the reservation, just after two in the afternoon.

Mina pulled a notepad and pen from her large bohemian purse. It was her favorite, though she rarely used it any more. Normally, she felt it was too casual to be carried by a member of such an important household.

She may not have been important herself, but she had the friendship and protection of the Queen, a relationship even the King himself had acknowledged and respected.

But today, driving around the desert in a jeep, called for truly casual and a big drawstring bag which could be worn backpack style or slung over your shoulder was perfect. She pulled out the small streetmap of Wadsworth and the page she'd torn from the phone book early this morning, before she went to sleep.

"According to the phone book, there's only one motel. Do you know of any others, Frannie?" Mina asked.

"I think there's only the one. They're quiet people and they prefer outsiders to stay in hotels off the reservation," Frannie answered. "And I doubt Mamma would have gone there, but I suppose we should eliminate all the obvious choices." She leaned up from the backseat to direct Lena. "It's a couple more blocks up, on the right."

They had decided the best story they could use was for Frannie to say her mother with early onset Alzheimer's had run away from home. And to make matters worse, they believed she was in the company of the man next door, who was a known drug addict.

Everyone was impressed when Frannie managed to cry as she explained, "I just don't understand how it happened. Mamma started talking to him over the fence one day while he was cooking on the barbeque and before you know it, she was telling me all about him and how he didn't work any more because he was drawing a pension from the government, on account of him seeing so much in Iraq that it drove him a little bit crazy and all.

And as far as I know, they've never even been in a room together. They just talked over the fence all the time. But now she's gone and nobody's seen him and I just don't know what I'd do if my friends hadn't come in from Vegas."

And then Frannie threw herself into Clio's embrace and sobbed uncontrollably.

Mina took the photocopied pictures from her bag and showed them to the desk clerk. "I'm so sorry. She's been like this for two days now. If you could take a look at these pictures," she said, placing the pictures on the desk and sliding them toward the man. "Do you think it's possible you've seen these people? Especially the woman, since we're not a hundred percent sure they're together."

The man picked up each picture and examined them carefully. "Anything is possible, but I don't believe I've seen these people," he said.

Mina sighed heavily and gave the man an appreciative smile as she reached for the photos. "Thank you very much. If you don't mind my asking, Elinor used to come out here all the time, when she was still able to travel on her own. Can you suggest any place we might look? Someplace a person might be able to stay out of sight?"

"It's hard to hide in the desert. If it was me, I would want shelter in a building. But I can't think of any place with buildings that don't get used. They might try to hide in someone's barn or something, but I doubt they could stay hidden that way. They would be heard. They would disturb the animals. If they're gonna try and stay hidden outside, maybe the crags near the hot springs? Then again, if she's smart, maybe she went off the reservation and into the mountains?"

"Thank you again," Mina said sweetly and the four of them went back to the jeep.

After a brief conversation, they decided their best course of action would be to move on to the Tribal Police station, a little further north into the reservation, in the tiny town of Nixon.

They gave a repeat performance at the Tribal Police station, slightly altered, in case the guy at the motel had called ahead of them. The men they spoke to, two officers and three others who appeared to be simply visiting friends, seemed very sympathetic, but no one could recall anyone mentioning seeing any strangers other than tourists around and they did not recognize the pictures.

The hot springs would have to wait for night to be searched since the area was closed to the public now due to graffiti and vandalism problems. The ATV trails and flat desert places could also wait, since those areas would be much easier searched from the air, so Eric and Ferdinand would be handling that.

The girls spent their day basically wandering aimlessly through the three very small towns. They stopped in stores and tourist shops. Elinor and Jason had not taken any clothes, so maybe they would try to steal something.

It was a very disappointing day. Frannie had hoped to find her mother before the vampires set themselves on her. Of course, the vampires were more interested in finding Jason, but the closer it got to moonrise, the less chance there was of finding Jason in a condition Sookie would be happy with. And even after so short an acquaintance with the Eric, she could see Sookie's happiness was the primary consideration on this outing.

They made a loop around the lake before they started losing the light and got back to the hotel with not quite an hour before sunset. Moonrise would be only twenty-five minutes later. There was so little time.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Jason woke up alone and hungry. The craggy little cave was like a sauna. The rocks had absorbed the sun's heat all day and now, even though it was beginning to cool, the heat was oppressive. "Elinor," he called. Not very loud, though, it was a very small island and sound carries over water. He couldn't remember how close he was to the shore.

No answer. Maybe she was trying to find something to eat? Even though the sun had begun to set, it was still much too light for her to be out walking around. She'd said this island was off limits to humans because of the birds nesting here. But she'd gone someplace.

Jason moved to try and get a better view of outside and his hand sunk in the mud. Though when he looked, it wasn't mud. "Great, I'm lost on bird shit island," he complained, lifting his hand and wiping it on a rock.

On the bright side, if there were enough birds on this island to produce this much bird shit, and from the sounds around him there were, then once he made his change at moonrise, he'd be able to hunt for food. That reminded him. He'd never had the chance to tell Elinor he was a shifter as well. He didn't want to just spring it on her and once they'd shifted he wouldn't be able to speak to her.

The sun was sinking. Jason decided to try his luck and leave the private sauna he occupied. He crawled through the bird crap and poked his head out from under the protective overhang. He was in a niche between two large rock formations. He slithered along, disturbing as few of the pelicans and others birds as possible, until he could see the water. He was very close. No sign of Elinor.

"Elinor," he called softly. No reply.

He heard a rustling, followed by several intermingled birds squawking, then he saw several fly away from the island and land in a group on the lake. That had to be her. She'd upset so many of them, Jason decided it would be best for him to be as still as possible, for a few minutes at least. It wouldn't be too much longer. He could feel his heart beginning to race, as it always did now before he shifted. Hopefully Elinor would make it back to where he was before it happened.

Minutes later, Jason heard a low rumbling growl behind him. "Elinor, thank god," he said as he rolled over on his back to face her.

The blood of her pelican dinner dripped from her mouth as she bared her enormous teeth to him and growled.

"Fuck me," Jason said as her huge paw swiped at him. He rolled in time to prevent her doing much damage. Three scrapes across his back, painful, but only a flesh wound.

Lucky for him, she stumbled slightly when her blow did not fully connect and just as she righted herself, he transformed.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

.

"Wake, my love," Eric whispered and kissed the back of her ear.

For a moment it was any other evening and her Viking lover was nudging her awake so she could indulge in the many pleasures his body could offer. She rolled and nuzzled into him.

"Not yet, Sookie. First we must cage cats."

"Jason!" Sookie shouted as she sat upright and scuttled off the bed.

"Get dressed. We have very little time before moonrise."

Eric moved to the small area which served as a closet space and Sookie attempted to follow before falling back to the bed. Eric returned to her at once, grabbing his phone off the dresser on his way.

"I'm sorry," Sookie cried into her hands.

"Shh. Do not be concerned, my love. " He called Oliver and instructed him to bring two donors, then he wet a towel and brought it and a robe back to the bed. He slipped Sookie into the robe and wet her hair with the towel. "I'm sure you would never recover if you could see your hair after sleeping on it wet," he laughed as he reached for a brush and handed it to her before getting up to dress himself.

Eric let Oliver in with the two donors. One was directed to sit next to Sookie on the bed. Sookie picked up the donor's wrist and closed her eyes to begin to feed.

"Were the girls able to accomplish anything in the light?" Eric asked Oliver.

"No, my lord."

"Very well," Eric said. Then to Sookie, "Will you be alright if Mina is sent to you? Or would you prefer Oliver to stay?"

Without releasing the donor, Sookie made a shooing motion, indicating for them to go on and leave. Mina came in a few minutes later and gave Sookie a quick report of what was planned.

Eric and Ferdinand would be covering the large, northern section of the reservation. Though this area covered the most space, it was mostly desert and included the vast ATV trails which with it's sand dunes and hills would be difficult to search from the ground, yet at the same time if you were on the ground it would be very difficult to remain hidden from someone searching from the air.

Oliver would be covering the closed to the public, hot springs area. It held many oddly shaped rock formations, which cast large shadows, making it better suited to ground search. It was also considered to be a very likely location for finding them, since Elinor would surely be aware of the area and that it was closed. It was agreed this would make it an almost irresistible location for Elinor to choose for a private hide out.

The women were left to check out the camping areas and anyplace else in the southern area they felt might offer sufficient hiding space for two large cats. Eric had suggested Sookie and the other ladies search the area around the dam.

Sookie laughed and choked, losing her grip on her donor. "Thank you, go back to your room," she said to the young man. "I guess that tells us the one place on the reservation Eric has decided is the least likely to contain tigers. Unfortunately, that also means it's unlikely to have any panthers either."

Mina laughed softly and motioned for the girl in the corner to come sit on the bed. "I think you know him very well."

Sookie scoffed and smiled as she took the girl's extended wrist. Five minutes later the donor was sent back to her room and Sookie was pulling on a T-shirt and loose fitting jeans.

Though Eric had left instructions for the women to form a single search party, Frannie and Sookie decided they would be more effective if they split up and divided the southern portion of the area around the lake. Frannie would lead the two Britlingens in a search of the western side and Sookie would take the eastern side with Mina and Clio. There was just under twenty minues before moonrise when the two groups of three sped away from their hotel at top speed.

~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~

The shock of Jason's transformation set Elinor back on her haunches. In all the times she'd played this cat and mouse scenario over in her head, the mouse had always remained a man throughout the chase. Typical, she thought as her mind raced. Men always figure out a way to cheat.

And what kind of creature had he changed into? Some sad, catlike thing, no doubt conjured up to take advantage of the girls where he was from. They were probably frightened out of their wits when they saw his cheap parlor trick of a transformation into something so unseemly. Well, not Elinor. He would not find her so easy a target as some young girl roaming through the night alone. She would teach him. And once he learned his lesson, he would die.

The surprise had thrown her off long enough for Jason to run away, but the moon had only just come out and this island was only one square mile of space. He had nowhere to run.

Jason bounded toward the shore but before he could leap into the water, he thought the better of it. The tiger would surely hear the splash and be on him in an instant. Her body was built for power, there was no way he could out swim her in their animal forms. And in a face-to-face fight, she'd tear him to shreds. He'd felt her strength when they were escaping from wherever the hell it was they were and he suspected she'd been holding back a lot, putting on a show to make it look as if he was keeping her under control.

No, this was going to be a battle of brains. Great. He'd never been accused of having many of those. Of course Elinor was stone cold nuts. Maybe that little fact would be enough to keep him ahead of her.

He looked longingly out at the water. Only two thousand feet to shore. His human form had made the swim easily, but it had taken a while, too long to risk it now. As the water quietly rolled across the tiny strip of gravelly sand and lapped at his paw, he looked down.

That's it, he thought. That could work. Unfortunately there was no way to test his theory, but he knew he couldn't out swim, out run or out fight her. He had to do something and he had to do it quick. This was better than nothing.

Several birds took flight at once. She was coming.

~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~XXX~~~~~~

Sookie parked at the end of a row of four other vehicles in the small parking area. Mina grabbed her purse from the floorboard and the three of them headed in the direction indicated by the arrow sign over a picture of a tepee.

Universal sign for camping, Sookie thought. She'd seen plenty of them around Louisiana. She'd never given the sign much thought before, but somehow it seemed out of place and offensive here on an Indian Reservation.

Well before they reached the camping areas, Sookie could hear the campers. They were making no effort to be quiet. Of course, as far as they knew they had no particular reason to need to be quiet. It wasn't as if they were being stalked by vampires or jungle cats out here in the big middle of the desert on an Indian reservation.

There were two, maybe three groups of campers within Sookie's earshot. She couldn't tell if the farther grouping was a large, spread out group or two smaller ones who weren't quite far enough apart for privacy and their sounds were running together.

In fact, a lot of sounds were running together. Despite being able to pick up a lot more sound than she could when she was human, she had expected to find a lot more quiet in the desert at night. This was really disappointing, especially as they got closer to the water.

They skirted the first group of campers and headed along the shoreline toward the next. The noise of all the birds on the water was like walking through an airport. "Sounds like a fox got into the henhouse," Sookie complained.

The words were no sooner out of her mouth than she came to a full stop. Mina and Clio followed suit and looked curiously at her as she stared out at the water. There were about a hundred birds, swimming on the lake, close enough to shore to be individually counted and heard.

"Frannie said something about a bird sanctuary or breeding ground or something out here somewhere. What was it?" Sookie asked.

"Pelicans," Clio offered. "And several other sorts of birds too. I don't remember what kind though."

"It's a little island on this side of the lake," Mina added. "It shouldn't be too far from where we are now. We can't, but you may be able to see it, Mistress. No one is allowed within five hundred feet so they don't disturb the birds."

"What do we know about pelicans?" Sookie continued. Her voice had the far away quality of someone who was speaking to you, but their attention was being occupied by something else entirely.

"They have really big beaks," Clio said with a smile.

Mina followed Sookie's gaze out to the water. It took a minute, but it clicked for her. "They're not nocturnal," she said heavily as her eyes came back to Sookie.

"Exactly," Sookie answered. "We need a boat. I'll go ahead to the next campsite. You two follow as quietly as possible. Don't let the campers see you. When you get to where you can see them, stop and walk into the water. I'll come back for you."

"Mistress, please wait," Mina pleaded. "Shouldn't we call the King? He wouldn't want you to go out there alone if you believe the tiger is there."

"But I'm not alone, Mina. You and Clio are with me." Sookie smiled brightly and disappeared into the night.

Fifteen minutes later Sookie met the others in the water. She had acquired a small fishing boat from a campsite fifty yards or so away. She quickly rowed them to the island and pulled the boat up on shore far enough to keep it from being dragged back out into the water.

"Eenie, meenie, miney, moe, catch a tiger by the toe," Sookie whispered to no one. "Left or right?"

"You said left first," Clio stated, as if offering a well-reasoned and logical explanation for going left.

"I guess that's as good a reason as any," Sookie said with a shrug. They headed left and hadn't gone very far at all when they heard a big splash. "You two go back to the boat," Sookie said without looking back. She headed toward the splash. Clio immediately went back, but Mina followed her mistress.

Jason lay submerged with his head cocked back at an uncomfortable angle so as little of his face as possible was above the water line. He estimated he was out only about twenty feet or so from shore, just far enough to sit comfortably in a sort of Sphinx position and watch for Elinor to conduct her search for him. Each pass she made got shorter as her irritation grew. Jason could see the disbelief in her huge eyes as she paced the island.

He wondered how long he'd been out here. It seemed like it had been hours and hours of waiting as time crept by and the water temperature dropped. But that was wishful thinking on his part. No matter how long it seemed to have been, it couldn't have been more than an hour, an hour and a half at most. It was going to be a very long and increasingly miserable night.

He caught a movement from the corner of his eye and looked in that direction without moving his head. He froze. Elinor was making another pass.

She was passing directly in front of him, again stopping to sniff a large rock protruding from the gravel beach. He had stopped and stood with one paw resting on that rock before walking into the water. His scent lingered there because the water didn't cover the rock when it rolled onto the island.

Jason was so fixated on watching Elinor he didn't notice the two pelicans paddling though the water behind him, slowly making their way back home after having been frightened away from their nest by the massive creature lumbering around their island. His head snapped around to look behind him as the first pelican's feet touched his back.

The pelicans didn't make any of the grunting or croaking sounds which kept punctuating the night. They simply pushed off of him and flew away, but the action produced enough sound to direct Elinor's attention to his exact spot. When her eyes connected with his, he swore he could see her smile. If he hadn't moved precisely when he did, she would have sliced him to ribbons right there in the water.

Elinor vaulted herself toward Jason, landing right where he had been with an enormous splash. As he made his move toward shore he could hear someone running.

"Jason!" came Sookie's scream from someplace very close.

He bounded toward the shore, barely reaching it before Elinor overtook him. He howled in pain as her nearly three-inch canine teeth pierced his flesh.

Sookie had nearly stumbled over the protruding rock Elinor had been sniffing before, but she managed to regain her balance. "Nooo!" she screamed at the tiger.

Mina was trying to keep up with her mistress and failing miserably. "Sookie! WAIT!" Mina yelled. She was digging desperately in her bag as she ran.

The gently lapping water of Pyramid Lake easily carried the screams to its northern shore. Eric and Ferdinand immediately changed course and flew south over the lake. Oliver would take longer. He scrambled out from the overhangs he had been exploring and to his jeep. As he sped away, he called Eric's cell to make certain he'd heard Mina's cry.

Elinor had Jason firmly by the hip, but she saw she was going to have to let go to deal with this new nuisance coming at her. She brought her head to the left as far as she could, dragging the yowling Jason with her, then jerked back, flinging him hard through the air and directly into Mina.

Jason's head slammed into Mina and propelled them both into the protruding rock. There was a terrible crash combined with Mina's screams as her leg snapped against the rock, Jason was knocked unconscious and they fell, together in a helpless heap at the water's edge.

This was going to be fun, Elinor thought as she stared into Sookie's face. All her desires for vengeance would be satisfied tonight. Jason would pay for all the ills brought to her life by men and Sookie Stackhouse had generously shown up to provide a nice little dessert course. Elinor would make her pay for John's broken heart. But she would finish Jason first. Sookie was such a little thing. She could be swatted aside for now.

Elinor sauntered in the direction of where Jason lay atop Mina, who had finally found what she'd been digging for. "Sookie!" Mina bellowed as she threw the dagger at Sookie, the effort causing her to wince as a sharp pain rushed from her thigh, throughout her body.

Sookie had to jump to reach the knife, but she caught it.

"Dance with her," Mina called. She grimaced and made an attempt to shove Jason off her so she could see her injured leg but shifting his weight even slightly sent new agonies shooting through her.

Sookie jabbed at the cat to get her attention. It worked.

Elinor snarled and spun around to face Sookie. Apparently dessert had changed her mind. She was just like John said, the selfish wretch. She wanted to be first. Well that could certainly be arranged. If Sookie was ready to die sooner rather than later, Elinor was more than happy to oblige her.

Sookie crouched low to the ground to be at eye level with her opponent. Don't look at her weapons, Sookie thought. OK, don't look at her teeth or her claws. Look into her eyes and watch her body move. Don't show fear. Don't lose eye contact.

They had walked an entire circle, only feet apart, every muscle and nerve taught, locked in their stares, each waiting for the other to flinch.

The shadow of a bird flying overhead flitted across Elinor's shoulders. Sookie mistook it for a movement and she attempted to counter by drawing back to strike. Elinor easily deflected Sookie's arm, dragging her sharp claws across it as she batted it away.

Sookie cried out, but didn't lose her focus. Her eyes remained on target despite smelling the blood running down her wounded arm. She had never felt more alive and she felt her lips curl into a smile as the bleeding slowed and she felt an odd prickly feeling spreading across her arm. This is what it felt like to heal. A strange tickling accompanied by a surge of power.

"You can't kill me," Sookie taunted as she took a step closer. There was a slight ripple of motion near Elinor's neck. Sookie dropped and rolled to dodged the blow, coming up beside the tiger. She held her dagger tight, with the blade along side her arm and as she stepped backward, she plunged it into Elinor's ribs, twisted and withdrew it quickly before darting aside.

Elinor staggered back and roared ferociously at Sookie, her eyes wild with rage. Her anger overcame her and she charged. Sookie held her ground, her attention riveted.

"Sookie, move!" Mina shouted as a hand touched her shoulder.

"No," Eric whispered from behind her. "She is right to remain still."

Mina looked up to see that Eric was crouched behind her and intently watching the fight taking place a few feet away. When he'd spoken, his voice had been filled with admiration and pride. And as Mina watched his face, it wasn't fear or even concern, so much as interest and excitement she saw there.

As Elinor reached Sookie, Ferdinand touched down and Eric held up a hand to prevent him from intervening in the fight. He patted Mina's shoulder reassuringly. "Shhh."

Sookie leapt up and sliced into the tiger's back on her descent.

A horrifying sound came from deep in Elinor's throat as she wobbled sideways. Then everyone's attention was drawn to a sudden roar not coming from Elinor.

From out of nowhere a tiger half again as big as Elinor was leaping directly for Sookie.

Suddenly Sookie was on the ground and her dagger was in Eric's hand.

It wasn't necessary to have an unobstructed view. The nerve splitting, crunching sound ripping through the night air screamed what they could not see. The dagger's pommel had connected solidly against the tiger's jaw. Shards of shattered bone tore through the soft palette of his mouth causing a torrent of blood to spray forth in all directions. And the accompanying howl of agony was terrifying.

As Quinn hit the ground, Eric readied himself to strike again.

"Eric, no!" Sookie cried, reaching for his arm and taking one lurching step forward before being halted by his glare.

"Be silent, woman!" Eric shouted. "I will hear no pleadings on his behalf. He will fall on his knees or forfeit them to my blade." Facing Quinn, he snarled, "Make your choice."

Quinn looked at his mother. She appeared to be completely confused as she tried to reach the gaping wound on her back with her tongue. He staggered to his feet.

"Ferdinand," Eric said in a clear and perfectly calm voice. "If he makes so much as an inch of forward progress, finish killing that one." He made a gesture in Elinor's general direction.

"Count yourself fortunate, cat," Eric spat at Quinn. "The pain you suffer now is nothing to what you would be suffering had you found your target. Are you as mad as your mother that you would dare to attempt to touch my queen! What state of delirium makes you believe I would tolerate your scent upon her flesh and let you live? Kneel."

Without moving his smashed face, Quinn looked from Eric to Sookie, who was getting to her feet: to his mother who had been leashed by Ferdinand, and back to Eric. Silently he sank to the ground.

"Eric, I –" Sookie began.

Eric whipped around and met her eye. "Do not speak," he warned. "I will hear you later." To Ferdinand, he said, "Tie the cats together to be transported." He took the roll of nylon cord from his belt and tossed it to Ferdinand, then headed toward Mina. Sookie followed.

"Ja—" But Eric's glare froze her brother's name in her throat.

Eric reached down and felt for Jason's pulse. It was strong. He leaned closer and listened to the steady breathing. He looked at Sookie and without emotion said, "He is only knocked out. He may have a concussion, but he's fine. Step back, he needs to be moved." Eric turned his attention to Mina.

"My leg is broken," Mina said weakly.

"Yes. Quite badly, I see." Eric moved Jason's head only slightly and Mina gasped and made a small mewling sound through her gritted teeth. He reconsidered his actions.

"Sookie, come sit here." He pointed to the space next to him near Mina's shoulder. "Mina, hold her hands, tight. I must get him off you so you can be moved. We need to get you to a hospital so your leg can be properly set."

Mina was in a lot of pain and scared half out of her mind of what was about to happen. As her chin quivered uncontrollably and her eyes filled with tears, she nodded her head.

Eric grabbed a handful of Jason's skin right at the back of his neck. He looked at Sookie. "Holding him here best protects his neck. Trust I will not injure him and do not release Mina's hands." He gave Mina a comforting smile and whispered, "Close your eyes, Mina, and take a deep breath."

With only a second of hesitation Mina did as she was told. Before her breath was fully drawn, Eric yanked Jason off her. Her scream was deafening as the shift in pressure caused the bone to break through the skin of her thigh.

"Mina!" Oliver called desperately. He was soaked through. He hadn't taken the trouble to steal a boat. He'd made the swim to the island.

"She is not irreparably damaged," Eric said as Oliver dropped beside Mina and looked in horror at the jagged bone jutting from her thigh.

Mina released her grip on Sookie's hands, reached for Oliver and began to cry.

"That stupid girl of Vivienne's is in a boat near where you came from. Did you see her?" Eric asked

"Yes, Majesty," Oliver answered as he rubbed Mina's hands.

"Take the ladies back to shore in the boat, then to the Institute. Sookie will call ahead and tell them to prepare to receive patients."

"The Queen is coming with me?" Oliver asked Eric, as if Sookie wasn't sitting right there.

"Yes," Eric responded flatly. "And don't let her more than arms length away from you. Belt her to your side if you must."

Eric got up and walked over to join Ferdinand. He inspected the way the tigers were tied. Ferdinand had done an excellent job of constructing a sort of netlike weave around the two of them. "Shall we?" he asked as he grabbed two handfuls of rope.

Ferdinand took hold of the ropes at the end of their cargo and nodded. The tigers growled their pained objections as they were lifted into the air.

"You should make your call now, Mistress," Oliver said as he picked Mina up as gently as she could. "We'll come right back for him," he said, indicating Jason.

Mina cried out and began to sob. "No! No. Put me down, Oliver, please."

"You know I can't, my angel. We must get you to hospital."

"Maybe if I help hold her leg steady," Sookie offered. She held her left arm under Mina's leg and held her cell in her right. "I don't know the number," she said.

Oliver rattled off the main phone number for the Leanne Institute and Sookie called and told them to get ready for incoming emergencies.

"I don't care how many doctors have gone home for the day. I'm not a census taker. In a few minutes two weretigers will be brought in. – yes two, your escapee has stab wounds and her son has a crushed face. But more importantly, I am bringing in a human girl with a broken leg. Her bone has broken through her skin. She'll need a surgeon, and she will be your priority. – Don't complain to me about your problems! Just get a damned doctor who can fix her leg! Do it!" When Sookie slammed her phone closed she was shaking and had tears running down her face.

Clio came running out of the boat when she saw them coming. She helped get Mina situated. Much to Oliver's relief, Mina passed out during the transition to the boat. Clio stayed with her while Oliver and Sookie went back for Jason.

They found him sitting near the water rubbing his head with his paw.

"Come on, cat," Oliver called.

Jason looked around. Sookie ran to him and threw her arms around his neck almost causing him to tumble over.

"Jason! You idiot, why did you run away with her? She was going to kill you. You were about to be released. Candia admitted you didn't rape her and we proved you weren't the father. I was about to call to have you sent home when they called to tell me you have escaped."

"Mistress, may we leave now?" Oliver asked.

Sookie looked up and realized she'd been wasting time rambling. "Jason, can you walk? We need to leave. Mina is injured. We need to get her to a doctor." She pulled on his neck and he got to his feet. He staggered along beside them as they went the short distance back to the boat.

It was a crowded trip back across to shore. They had to keep very still in order to keep the boat balanced. It was only designed to carry two or three people, not four people and a fully grown panther. When they reached the shore, they were met by three angry young men screaming threats about their stolen boat.

"Oliver, don't talk to them. You get Mina to the car. Clio, go with him to help keep her leg steady. Jason, stay with me." Sookie tore the strap off a lifejacket tucked under a seat and strapped it around Jason's neck.

"Let him pass," Sookie called to the men. "He's carrying an injured woman. I took your boat." The men looked around to her as she stepped out of the boat holding Jason's collar.

"What the hell?" one of the men said.

"He's my pet," Sookie said. "He had been stolen and hidden on that island. We were getting him back. I'm sorry, I damaged one of your lifejackets to make him a collar. If you'll follow me to my car I'll be happy to pay you for it and for cleaning your boat as well." She passed them without stopping, then looked back over her shoulder. "You coming?"

Sookie took her keys out of her pocket and opened the lock box in the back of the car. She removed her purse and looked up. "Whose boat?"

"Mine," the shorter one said.

Sookie handed him one hundred and fifty dollars. "Enough?" She didn't wait for an answer. She led Jason into the back seat and handed Clio the keys. "Follow us to the clinic." She gently lifted Mina's head and slipped into the back seat and held Mina's head and shoulders in her lap. "Let's go now."

When they reached the Institute, three orderlies were waiting for them with a gurney. Under Oliver's watchful eye, they removed her from the back of the car and inside.

Clio parked and stayed in the car petting Jason, leaving Sookie standing alone. As she started toward the car with Jason and Clio, Eric came striding out the front door of the Institute looking furious.

"Why did you not come inside with Oliver? He was instructed to keep you at his side. What punishment shall he have for his failure?"

"Eric, no, please, it's my fault."

"Since you share the blame, shall I take his head quickly? Even with your meager blade I could accomplish such a sentence."

"You can't mean it, Eric," Sookie sobbed. "It's my fault, punish me."

Jason stood up and growled from the backseat of the jeep.

"Silence!" Eric screamed at Jason. "You have caused enough damage to last us all quite some time. Do you suppose your sister to be in danger from me? Are you even more ignorant than I have been led to believe?"

Lowering his voice and speaking to Sookie he said, "I have called for a car to take you back to the hotel. Since I cannot trust those charged with your protection to remain with you, I shall accompany you myself."

"But Mina," she whimpered.

"Are you a physician?"

"No, but,"

"Then you are of no use to her tonight. Mina is well tended."

"Shouldn't one of us be giving her blood?"

"Not unless the goal is to cripple her for life. That would be rather cruel treatment for the only one who stayed with you, would it not?"

All Sookie could do was stare at him. She was so confused. She felt tired and weak, but she was determined not to slither away or faint with him so angry and being so mean.

"Come, Dearest," he said gently. When she didn't respond immediately he extended his hand and beckoned her. She closed the distance between them in an instant and flung herself into his welcoming arms. He held her close and kissed her hair as she cried softly into his shirt.

The Limo pulled into the parking lot and Eric made a hand motion to get Clio's attention. "Follow," he said to her.

As soon as they were seated, Eric put an arm around Sookie and spoke. "As for your question regarding giving Mina blood. Our blood will heal humans, but we must take care to make certain the human is ready to be healed. In Mina's case, if we had given her our blood, her bones would have begun healing along with any internal injuries her leg or other parts of her may have suffered. If the bone beings to knit without being properly set, you can never go back and set it exactly right. And any attempt to do so would involve rebreaking and much more additional pain and suffering. And after all that, her chances of walking without a limp would be less than they are now.

Perhaps you are willing to confess it would not have been a good thing for you to have still been alone with Mina once your sparring partner was subdued?"

"Yes," Sookie whispered.

"Perhaps you might also confess your monstrous childishness and lack of sensible priorities in sending your security detail away with that girl who it seems to me would be infinitely better off had Ferdinand and I drowned her shifter relatives in the lake?"

"Yes, of course, my darling." Sookie reached up and touched his cheek. "I was only thinking of keeping her from running away. I thought we needed her to help find Jason, and –"

"Jason has occupied enough of your thoughts. Think of me." He snatched her to him and kissed her. She melted into him.

All the violence of his wrath poured into the passion of his kiss. How easily he could have lost her to the claws of a mad tiger. She still did not comprehend the extent to which she had become a vital part of his life. That her loss was an intolerable risk. That he could not, would not be without her.

As he awakened all her desires, she thought only of him. The coldness of his refusing to speak to her had passed, replaced by the all-consuming blaze of her love for him and their desire for each other.

Her hands found their way to his belt, anxiously opening it and his zipper, releasing his cock into her hands. As she pulled back from his mouth, he gasped at her touch. "Forgive me?" she murmured, staring into the bottomless blue of his eyes.

With his longing clear in his voice, he whispered, "Make me forget my anger."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

.

If this was what sex would always be like when Eric was angry, it would almost be worth risking his temper more often. There was nothing soft or gentle about him tonight. He was all ferocity and raw, base emotion.

The hands which she knew to be so tender, had roughly thrown her to the bed and shredded her clothes to make way for his mouth. A mouth which seemed so foreign to her, dispensing rage along with pleasure. He had bitten her several times already, while not allowing her fangs within biting distance of his skin.

She wasn't his chosen tonight, or his wife. Tonight she was barely even his lover. She was the object of his fury.

She deserved to be whipped, his mind screamed. Or imprisoned and starved until she realized he was her lord and master and he was not to be defied. How dare she put his most prized possession in jeopardy?

She deserved to be punished, but how could he do that? How could he scar her perfect flesh? Even if she would heal immediately, the memory of the sight would be more torturous for him than the pain of a lash could ever be for her. And he knew he couldn't deprive her, not of nourishment, not of anything.

He loved her desperately, for all her irreverence and carelessness. And his longing for her never faded. Even when she was naked beneath him, as she was now, he wanted her as if she was the forbidden property of another. He needed the feeling he only found when he was inside her.

As he pounded into her, she received him willingly, eagerly. Even when her cries of pleasure became mixed with painful yelps she did not ask him to stop. When he reached his release, he didn't withdraw. He let his body simply fall on top of her. He waited.

She moved to kiss him and tried to enfold him in her arms, but he would have no part of it. He pushed her face away from him and gathered her hands and held them over her head. In less than a minute he felt his cock twitch. She wasn't ready yet, but he was. His mind was still awash with wild thoughts. If he couldn't beat her, he'd fuck her to death. Or at least fuck her until he didn't want to beat her any more.

They were well into round five. Eric had been brutal and Sookie was sore well beyond anything she'd ever felt due to sex. She'd lost count of her orgasms and her goal had been reduced trying to keep up with him to simply trying to remain conscious until he worked through his wrath.

The violence in the movement of his hips was driving him to another orgasm. He would never get his fill of her. Not if they continued like this for days. He lowered his face to have another go at her neck when something made him stop.

She smiled. Not a big, broad laughing smile, only a slight crimp at the corners of her mouth. Her mouth. How he loved her mouth; the musical sounds which came from it, the way it moved when he kissed it, how it felt when it wrapped its self around his cock and brought him to orgasm so wonderfully. And now it smiled for him, even as he callously ravaged her. How was it possible?

He was completely still, poised over her in amazement when she astonished him further. She closed her eyes and slowly turned her head to the side, offering him her neck.

When he remained in his suspended position, she turned back and reached up with one hand, placing it behind his head and pulling him to her. "Come, my darling, drink," she whispered.

He stared into her eyes looking for signs of madness. Surely she could not have enjoyed how he had used her. "You would freely bid me drink? Even now?"

Her smile widened a bit before she spoke. "You're my lover, my husband and my king. I love you and I'm yours freely, body and blood."

He collapsed onto the bed beside her and gathered her in his arms, holding her tight against his chest. For hours he had sought to punish her for making him angry and in a few whispered sentences she had slain him utterly. He was defenseless against her.

He held her until she fell asleep, before reaching for his cell phone to call Ferdinand to make sure all the travel arrangements had been made.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Eric had just zipped his jeans and was standing in front of the dressing room mirror drying his hair when he heard her wake. He walked barefoot into the bedroom, stood beside her travel coffin and waited. He felt her initial panic, but she didn't scream. That was a good sign.

She was feeling around on the inside as much as she could. There wasn't much room and she didn't know where she was. "Eric."

He could tell she was trying not to sound afraid. She probably didn't know if anyone else was here and she didn't want to show fear in front of some unknown person.

"Eric, can you hear me?"

Her voice cracked a little. She had stopped looking. Her fear had overcome her. " I am here, Dearest. Calm down. Place your arms at your sides and feel along the closure. There is a handle on each side. Pull either one, not both, inward toward you. It will come out about an inch. Turn it clockwise."

The coffin lid popped open and Sookie shoved the lid up and jumped out as if the coffin had been on fire. She had the look of a child frightened by nightmares when she turned her face up to Eric's. "Why didn't you let me out?"

"The opening mechanism is on the inside. I wanted to see if you would find it on your own. I am ever curious about your adaptability."

She took a step back from him. "And if I hadn't called out to you, how long would you have stood there waiting for me to adapt my way out of that coffin?"

Eric considered her question for a moment before answering. "I suppose until either you asked for help or I got bored with waiting. I do not imagine it would have been an extended length of time in either case. But now you are out, please get dressed. We have an appointment."

"We have an appointment? I don't even know where we are."

He leaned down and kissed her softly. "We are in the Royal Suite of the Oubliette." And with that he went to his dressing room, leaving Sookie staring after him.

Well, at least I had the royal part right, she thought. Her first thought upon coming out of the travel coffin had been the opulent surroundings must mean they had gone to California and were visiting King Leonas. It had never occurred to her a place where she was Queen would be as extravagant as this, all rich dark woods and cream colored silks and satins.

Sookie was dressed in a pale gray cotton sundress with bright red embroidered roses when she came into the sitting room a few minutes later.

"Where is everyone?" she asked upon seeing only Eric and Ferdinand in the room.

Eric took her hand as he answered. "The Britlingens have been sent back to Shreveport for Saule to deal with. Those two are no longer to be assigned to your security detail. Oliver has accompanied Mina home as well. Frannie was left with her mother at the Institute and Clio has been returned to her Mistress.

Come, we must hurry."

Eric ushered her to the elevator, which opened directly into the sitting room and pushed the button for floor A. They were going to the basement.

As far as she knew, all that was in the basement were security offices and jail they called The Crypt, the Vegas vampire version of The Tower of London. For some reason she thought of Anne Boleyn and a shudder ran through her. Her grip on Eric's hand tightened, but she couldn't bring herself to look up at him.

Sensing her fear, Eric raised her hand and kissed it. "You are in no danger, my love."

"Don't we have time for me to feed before we do whatever we're doing?"

"No, the moon will be rising in a few minutes."

"Moon rise? Does this have something to do with Jason? Is he alright?"

The elevator reached its destination and Eric stepped out, bringing Sookie along with him. "Come."

They got to the door with the small sign identifying it as the entrance to The Crypt. The room was exactly as Sookie remembered it, long and narrow, no furniture, a slanted wall, divided into three sections of one-way glass to the left offering a view of the prisoner interview room where she had met Gage Gordon. The room was empty at the moment.

Eric stopped in the middle of the center section of glass. He stood emotionless and pushed a button on the metal frame.

Sookie was becoming more frightened by the second. "Eric, what's happening?"

"We are witnessing what you've done, my love."

Good god. Someone was about to be tortured and he was going to force her to watch.

Sookie jumped as a buzzer sounded and the door in the adjacent room popped open. She unconsciously sucked in a breath and held it as she watched John Quinn being led into the room in chains.

Sookie turned to Eric, her eyes rimmed with red tears. "Eric, I don't know what they're going to do to him, but please stop them. He was protecting his mother. I don't believe he would have hurt me."

"I am comforted by no such belief, my love, but Mr. Quinn is in no danger from anyone in the room with him. They are merely chaining him to the wall for his own protection. Keep your eyes on the tiger."

Sookie turned back to face Quinn and was horrified by what she now noticed. The right side of his face was still caved in and bone was sticking out of his jaw in at least two places. She attempted to look back at Eric, but found she couldn't. The shock was profound as she pulled to her left to no avail.

"Watch the tiger," Eric said coolly as guards chained Quinn to the opposite wall.

Quinn had a large belt around his waist with chains looped through it. The chains were then slipped into holes in the wall and apparently linked to something on the other side of the wall. His arms and legs were not chained and he did not fight against being restricted.

"Why can't I move and why didn't Quinn's jaw get set?" she demanded.

"You could move if you really wanted to move, my love. Your body is simply responding to my command. As for your second question, it is the full moon and Mr. Quinn is a shifter. As such, he has three days of near forced shifts. This is day two."

"What are you talking about?" Sookie screamed, tears flowing freely. "Look at his face!"

"We shall look at his face together, my love." Eric stepped behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

Quinn's eyes suddenly widened and a pained groan emanated from him. The sound grew into a scream of such torment, Sookie screamed in response and threw herself against the glass wall. "Eric! Do something!"

"What would you have me do?"

Sookie watched as Quinn's face contorted and ripped as larger bones tore through his flesh as he transformed. It only took seconds, but excruciating hours seemed to have passed.

The massive tiger lifted his paw and yelped pitifully when it touched his torn and broken face.

The chains in the wall had dropped during the shift and now tightened so he was forced directly against the wall. Two men carrying rifles walked in and each shot him.

Sookie screamed again.

Eric pulled her to him. "Only tranquilizers so he can be safely moved back to his cell."

"He needs to be in a hospital," she said between sobs. "Why did you bring me down here?"

"You needed to see," he replied. His voice was now warm and filled with concern. "Let us go back upstairs and get you fed. We have much to discuss."

Eric held her close to his side as they walked back to their suite with Sookie fighting back sobs all the way.

Sookie sank into a couch and stared blankly as Eric motioned for Ferdinand to fetch a donor.

"No, I'll go to them." She stood back up and followed Ferdinand into a smaller adjoining suite. Six pairs of eyes turned to her when she entered. "You," she said, pointing to a young man standing nearby.

He came to her and swept his long hair aside, offering his neck. Sookie leaned into him, closing her eyes and following the call of his blood. When her fangs pierced his jugular everything else faded away. For a few blissful seconds there was no Quinn or torturous transformations or even Eric in the next room waiting patiently to impart some painful lesson to her. There was only the thirst and the blood call. She allowed herself to be surrounded by it and it comforted her.

Unfortunately, her comfort did not last for long. She felt the slowing of the man's pulse. She licked the wounds as she withdrew from him. Ferdinand guided the man back to his seat and looked up to Sookie. "Another," she said.

Sookie came back to the sitting room with tears dried, shoulders squared and her body steeled by her feeding. Eric rose from his chair to take her hand. He attempted to have her join him in his chair, but she pulled away and sat on a sofa opposite him.

"Ferdinand, please step outside. The Queen and I are not to be disturbed for the next hour," Eric said, retaking his seat in the large chair across from Sookie.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Ferdinand said with a bow before leaving the suite.

When the elevator doors closed and they were alone, Sookie leaned forward. "Eric, I know you're still angry and I know things would have probably worked out a lot better if I'd called you before I went over to the island -"

"In a stolen bass boat," Eric interrupted. "Let us not omit that dazzling detail. The Queen of Arkansas, Louisiana and Nevada stole a three-man aluminum bass boat and rowed two defenseless human girls to a one square mile island bird sanctuary which she believed to be occupied by an insane three hundred and fifty pound Tiger and another odd but none the less large cat.

If you would be good enough to satisfy my curiosity on one small point, my love. Was it your intention to offer them as a meal or possible trade for your brother?" Though he did not raise his voice, the sarcasm dripping from his tongue cut through her.

"Eric!" she shrieked. "You know I'd never do anything like that."

"Do I?" he asked quietly.

He leaned back in the chair and folded his hands in his lap. His calm was maddening. Sookie's anger waged war with her tears within her. For good or ill, her inner turmoil made it clear to Eric he'd gotten a reaction while leaving it utterly unclear exactly what reaction he'd gotten.

"One would think if I were so perceptive as to be able to predetermine your actions I would be better able to protect you from yourself."

Sookie was at a loss for what to say and it simply wasn't possible to win a staring contest with Eric. She sat as still as she could manage looking into her lap and waited.

Eric let her squirm, literally. He remained silent until her nerves got the better of her and she began restlessly fidgeting and picking at her fingernails.

"Shall I call for a manicurist?" he said at last.

"No thank you," she replied with as much dignity as she could muster.

He extended a hand to her. "Come, Dearest. Sit with me. Please."

Her chin quavered briefly, but she was determined to shed no more tears. "Are you sure you could stand having someone as disappointing as me that close to you?" she spat.

That brought out his grin … and a bit of fang as well. "Such fire," he murmured. He stood, still offering his hand. "Never disappointing. Mysterious. I am at a loss to understand you. Please."

She glanced several times between his hand and his face before reaching up. His fingers gently grasped hers, pulling her up and forward. He sat back down and brought her into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and laid her head on his chest so she wouldn't have to face him. "Now, tell me about last night. I want to hear your perspective."

"Where do you want me to start?" she asked, relaxing against him.

"Immediately after you watched me leave our room."

"OK. Mina said you wanted us to search the camping grounds and the area around the dam. I figured that meant those were the areas where you thought Elinor and Jason were least likely to be."

"Correct. Continue."

"Frannie is most familiar with the area and with her mother and she didn't think her mother would be hiding near the dam. So we decided to go directly to the camping areas, but there are places to camp out on both sides of the lake, so we decided it would be best to split up into two smaller groups so we could cover both sides at once. And –"

"And who is we?"

"Frannie and I, we –"

"Dearest, did you believe Oliver and I had not thoroughly gone over all the information Miss Quinn had provided? We were quite aware of Frannie's familiarity with the area and with her more intimate acquaintance with her mother's habits. Who decided how the two groups would be divided?"

"I did. Since we divided evenly into two groups of three, that was convenient. I wanted Mina with me because I'm most comfortable with her. I started to split the Britlingens, but that would have meant sending Clio with Frannie and since Clio had spent so much time with her already, I didn't want to risk Frannie possibly being able to influence Clio into helping her get away. Maybe without her even realizing what she was doing. So I kept Clio with me as well and sent both Britlingens with her."

"And they went willingly? No coercion?"

"Eric, you can't punish them for –"

"Dearest, I can do as I will. One of the grander perks of being King. Please answer the question."

"I ordered them," she said pushing up against him to look him in the eye. "Of course they objected at first, but I insisted."

"They objected? Interesting. That should have served as a hint, Sookie. If they were willing to voice an objection in the face of the Queen who commanded them, it should have been clear to you the instructions they knew they should follow came from a higher authority."

"I didn't think of it like that."

"But they did. Which only serves to compound their transgression. How did you decide which group would search which side of the lake?"

She was only making things worse for the people around her. She wished desperately she knew what he was looking for so she could counteract it. Alas, she didn't. So all she could do was plod forward.

"There's a town on the west side of the lake and I didn't want to have to deal with a town, so I chose the east side."

Eric half snorted and hugged her tight. It would take at least a thousand years of devout study to decipher the inner workings of her mind. More time than he had available at the moment.

"Stop, Dearest. I've heard enough. In future, if it should fall to you to assemble a search party, try to not do it quite so much as if you were making seating arrangements for a dinner party.

Now, I know this has been a point of contention between us, but I now feel I have no choice but to be firm in my demand that you not trivialize the importance of your safety." He shifted her in his lap and held her face in his hands. "How can I make you understand, my love? You who are so young and have no frame of reference."

"I'm not stupid, Eric" she said huffed.

He closed his eyes, still cupping her face. If he breathed, no doubt he would have let out a frustrated sigh. "Of course I do not believe you to be stupid, but it isn't a question of stupidity, nothing nearly so simple. It is a question of replacement value and acceptable loss. It is a question of love and desire and what one's heart can bear before it impales its self on its sorrows and ceases to exist."

Sookie gazed into his eyes as if somehow his meaning would show its self there. When it didn't, she tilted her head and kissed his palm. "I love you, my darling, but I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You will one day," he assured her with a smile, releasing her face and taking her hands in his. "In the mean time, there will no longer be any negotiation between us with regard to your security. Your guards will be ordered to take no instruction from you on security issues. With regard to these matters any conversation they are to have with you shall be restricted to answering any questions you may have.

If you would like to make any requests for changes in security arrangements, those requests must be made directly to me as your guards will not be authorized to follow any directives which have not come expressly from my office or me personally. Do I make myself quite clear?"

The smile fell from Sookie's face and she tried to pull away from him but he held firm. "So I'm your prisoner now?"

"Hardly. Your movements will not be restricted unless you should decide to take up tempting the sun as a hobby. I cannot and I will not risk your life. Any pleasure you may find in the spontaneity of unnecessarily exposing yourself to danger is overridden by my refusal to face the possibility of continuing without you. You are free to run headlong into burning buildings, if that is your wish. I am merely exercising my right to make certain someone is there to drag you out."

Sookie listened without expression, never breaking eye contact. "Anything else?"

"There is the matter of Oliver."

"What about Oliver?"

"Last night he defied a direct order."

Sookie shifted on his lap and he could feel the sudden panic welling in her. "You mean when he went into the hospital with Mina?"

"I mean when he left your side after having been specifically ordered to remain next to you, by force if necessary."

"Mina is injured!" She raised her voice but it wasn't yet a shout. She pulled herself off his lap and stood in front of him. "He went inside with her. It's only natural. She's his chosen. Would you stay outside with another woman if I were hurt and being wheeled into a hospital?"

"You are not another woman. You are his Queen and his mistress. He is your sworn guardian. His woman was in no danger. She was well tended. And even if that were not the case, his first duty is still to you."

"What are you going to do to him?"

"That depends on you, my love."

"What do you mean?"

"Release him," Eric stated simply.

"What?"

"He pledged himself to you in your human form. To my knowledge, he has not reaffirmed that pledge since your transition. His former pledge can now be dissolved without consequence. Release him from your household."

Sookie's face brightened and she smiled at Eric. "That's wonderful! I had no idea I could do that now. In fact I didn't even think about it." Her happiness was short lived.

"Keep Mina."

She froze and looked at Eric in disbelief. "Keep Mina? But I gave her to him. It would break his heart. I couldn't do that."

Eric didn't flinch. "Are you saying you prefer to keep him in our house and leave him to the punishment appropriate to his crime? The choice is yours, Dearest."

Sookie stumbled back to the couch and when her calves touched its cushions, she sank into it. "I can't make that choice," she whispered.

"Very well, Dearest. If the burden of the decision is too great, I shall make it for you." Eric stood and reached into his pocket to get his cell phone.

"Wait!"

Eric stopped and tilted his head back to her without speaking.

She straightened her shoulders and looked him directly in the eye, thinking she had discovered a way to gauge what kind punishment he might mete out to Oliver. She strongly suspected it would involve a sword. "What did you do to the Britlingens?"

"I told you. I sent them back to Shreveport."

"But you didn't punish them?"

"The Britlingens are employees, Dearest, not pets or slaves. Their punishment is not in my hands. Though I suspect it will be severe. They swore a blood oath to protect you. While you were entrusted to their care, you were attacked by mad weretigers and they were not present to offer their protection. Dereliction of duty is a very egregious offense. The Britlingens have built their name and reputation on their absolute adherence to their responsibilities, to the death if need be. Anything less is intolerable."

Sookie felt defeated. There was nothing she could do to help anyone. "I'll deal with Oliver. Do I have to make him stay away from me?'

"Do as you will, my love. Of course he will be stripped of his position of head of your security forces, but at your discretion he may occupy a position within it."

"Fine." She looked up at emotionless Eric's face and continued. She figured this was better than the unbridled fury she'd seen there last night. "When I went to Mississippi with Alcide it was the full moon and he mentioned a drug that shifters who were in the military used to keep the change from coming. And somehow he was able to keep from shifting as well. I didn't ask how he managed it."

Eric re-took his seat. "As you are aware, purebred shifters are able to shift at times other than the full moon. This is accomplished by a concentrated force of will, requiring the shifter to focus his full attention on the shift. Preventing a shift during a full moon is basically the same process in reverse. It requires the shifter's complete attention.

I assume you mention this subject due to our guest in the crypt. Think of a time when you were injured. At no time were you able to focus wholly on something else. Your pain was always present in your thoughts preventing you from giving your undivided attention to anything else, even your own defense.

Due to his injury, Mr. Quinn is unable to consistently devote his concentration to preventing his shifts.

A jaw cannot be set and put in a cast like an arm or leg. It must be either wired into a rigid position or reassembled and held together with brackets and screws until it can heal. Either of these procedures would be torn apart by the shift and you would end with more damage than you started with."

Eric stopped as his lips curled into a menacing grin. "If it is your desire, my love, I will happily order either, or both procedures done at once. And have them redone after each shift."

"Eric!"

"Yes, I thought not." He sounded quite disappointed.

"What about the drugs?" Sookie asked.

"No drugs."

"But why?" she pleaded.

Eric's expression went blank again and his voice flattened. "He needs to feel the pain so he remembers what he did and the consequences he suffered for it."

"And there's nothing I can do to change your mind?"

"We, none of us, can change the past. He did what he did. He attacked a vampire queen, my queen. Do you suppose I would suffer an attack on Shreveport without reprisal?"

"Of course not, but that's different, that's your territory."

He was at her side in an instant. Even with her being a vampire, he had moved so swiftly she hadn't seen it. His fingers touched her jaw and turned her face toward his. "And is your flesh not my territory as well? And given the choice to lose one or the other, do you believe I would hesitate for even an instant in choosing?"

Sookie scoffed and couldn't help but smile at him. Her vanity knew the answer. "You'd take me and run. And when you had me safely locked away someplace you'd go back and smash whoever took your city to pieces."

He returned her smile. "Precisely. And do you know why? I have enough confidence to know I would have both back eventually, but I could bear the thought of other men being in and lording over my city while I plotted to get it back. My anger would focus my mind.

I could not bear the thought of other men being in or lording over you as I sat in my city plotting to get you back. My jealousy would blind me to any but the most direct courses of action, which are often not most effective, and might devour me utterly."

And unfortunately for you, my love, my affinity for you is well known. My enemies know I now have an Achilles heel and it is the form of my Queen. That makes you a very attractive objective for anyone with thoughts of injuring me."

"So you've made me a target for ambitious thugs?" she teased.

"I have made you the aspiration of kings, but no king save one may claim you. And I shall defend to the very last, my right to be your only king."

A single tear rolled slowly down her cheek as she leaned to kiss him. "It's so hard to understand how such savagery and such love can live in harmony in one man."

"Never confuse containment with harmony, my love."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

.

Sookie stood, walked to the wall of windows and stared out at the view. Eric followed, standing behind her with his hands on her shoulders.

"So how long are you going to punish me?" she asked. She felt a brief shudder run through his body as he cringed from her words. She used his regret to her advantage. "Or have you not decided on my sentence?"

His forehead came to rest on the top of her head.

"You will be my final death," he whispered into her hair. "The pain of your punishment is too great for me to bear. It must stop." His arms wrapped around her shoulders and he pulled her into him.

She said nothing, but tilted her head and kissed his arm.

After a few minutes, Eric straightened and stepped back. "I have business with Vivienne. If you have no objection, we'll be able to leave for Shreveport well before dawn. We could wake up in our own bedroom."

"That would be nice," she said, still staring out the windows.

"I'll tell Ferdinand to make the arrangements. What would you like to do while I am busy?"

"Do I need to give you a schedule?" she asked quietly as she turned to face him. There was no malice or sarcasm in her tone or expression. She was simply asking.

The honesty in her voice was crushing. Only hours ago, in his anger, he had sought to break her and now his greatest fear was the possibility he had succeeded. He took her hand, closed his eyes and kissed it, holding it to his lips as if the gentleness of the act could erase his earlier brutality.

"Dearest, you are under no restrictions. You may do anything you please. Though I beg you would not go anywhere unaccompanied. If not for yourself, for me."

Sookie smiled. "Then I can go dancing and dance with anyone I want?"

"Of course." He stood and looked into her eyes, which were already dancing.

"And you won't get jealous and kill anyone?"

"I can give no such assurance." His grin found its way back to his face. "But look at the bright side. If I do, you'll have a story Pam will find amusing when you tell it."

"I suppose that's something," she said with a pout.

"Dance as you please, my love. Only take care in choosing your partners."

They both laughed and Eric chose that moment to make his exit. The torturous knots in his gut had eased somewhat at the sight of her smile. He needed to go before anything passed between them to make things worse again. Would she ever truly forgive him for what he'd done? She shouldn't, he thought. He knew he would never forgive himself.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Everyone Sookie had brought with her from Shreveport had been sent home and she had no desire to party alone.

She went to the donor suite and selected a girl who looked to be approximately her age and size. The girl's name was Brenda and she had an odd, distant look about her. Sookie resisted the urge to delve into the girl's mind to see if she could find the reason behind the girl's appearance.

Tonight she wasn't trying to be helpful or looking for a friend. She simply needed companionship, nothing more. She had Brenda put on one of her dresses and they left the suite together, on their way to Vivienne's apartment. If Clio was there, Sookie would take her too.

Ferdinand followed dutifully. Stepping ahead of Sookie only to push elevator buttons or hold doors. He was good looking and tall, though not as tall as Eric, with olive skin and large brown eyes. And he had a gorgeous smile, which he displayed often, capturing the attention of many female occupants of the Oubliette. When Sookie knew for a fact, when she walked into a room with Ferdinand beside her, no one would wonder if he was her sugar daddy, as they often had with Oliver.

When they reached the Sheriff's suite, Sookie found Clio and her fellow pet Fawn. After a courtesy call to Vivienne, which was more passing on information than asking for consent, Clio and Fawn both joined Sookie and Brenda for a girl's night out.

"Is the dance club on one or two?" Sookie asked as they entered the elevator and Ferdinand blocked the door, preventing another couple from joining them.

"The loudest is on one," Fawn answered. "On the opposite side of the building from where this elevator will let us out."

"One it is then," Sookie announced, and Ferdinand pushed the button.

Sookie was beginning to relax a bit. The prospect of letting loose a little without being directly under Eric's nose was a very appealing thought. Though she wasn't over her hurt feelings and anger by a long shot. She'd agreed to have an escort, but she hadn't agreed to play nice with him.

"What did you do to piss Eric off so badly he gave you this assignment?" Sookie asked.

Ferdinand glanced around the elevator. All eyes were on him. His gaze settled on Sookie. "Is it his habit to entrust the protection of Your Majesty's person to those who have incurred his wrath?"

Sookie laughed at his question. "I just wondered if you made him angry." Her voice took on a mocking tone. "If you had incurred his wrath, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be around to ask questions about it."

"I'm sure you're right about that," Ferdinand said with a smile. "To my knowledge, the king is not unhappy with my work. In fact he has requested I accompany you to Shreveport and take over the operation of Your Majesty's personal security detail."

"Did he tell you I intend to keep my former head of security at my side?"

"He said you were very fond and trusting of Mr. Mayer and you would be likely to keep him in your personal employ. My responsibility will be directly to the king, so there would seem to be no reason for Mr. Mayer and I to be at cross purposes."

"I see," she said simply. It was no fun if he wasn't going to argue. "So, person entrusted with the protection of my person, do you dance?"

"Indeed, I enjoy dancing very much," he answered with a broad grin. And then as if to cut her off before she started, he added, "And were I not the only member of your security detail tonight I would be tempted by any of your ladies. As it is however, I will satisfy myself with watching from outside the dance floor."

"Maybe you'll change your mind before the night is over," Sookie teased. "Ladies, I think we should be surrounding him as closely as possible as we go. That way we can all stay close to our security. There is only one of him after all."

The elevator opened and as they exited, Sookie grabbed his right arm. "Clio, you take his left. Fawn and Brenda follow. Let's have some fun."

The bustling main casino floor of the Oubliette was, like most casinos, a full-fledged, over the top, assault on the senses. Every inch of space was lit up like high noon on the surface of the sun, assuming the sun had recently been subjected to an attack of multi-colored nuclear neon. And the mixture of sounds; layer upon layer of bells, alarms, clanging coins, blaring music, laughter and excited shrieks all punctuated by the occasional piercing screams of pretended pain from the actors occupying the various torture devices set up throughout the casino. It struck Sookie as being like a finger painted picture of a nightmare plucked from the mind of a mad progeny of the Marquis de Sade.

Clio expertly led the hazardous trek across the floor with gentle tugs and prods in the right directions. Her skill was much appreciated since the atmosphere limited effective forms of communication to pressing your lips directly into the ear of the person with whom you wished to speak, shouting at a volume likely to cause permanent vocal chord damage, or sign language.

When they reached the other side of the casino, Madam Guillotine was the name of the club they entered. The lobby featured three life sized guillotines set up for customers and tourists to have photos taken with their heads either in the stock of the guillotine or laying disembodied, by way of special effects photography, in a basket.

Let it never be said enterprising vampires were not the kings and queens of cheesy garishness.

Ferdinand told the hostess they would require a table for eight and was promptly informed no such table existed in this club and it would be at least an hour wait for a table of any description. Sookie overheard the exchange and turned to see how he would handle the situation.

He was clearly not accustomed to being the front man for a royal outing. He was flustered quickly at first but he regained his composure, moving to the 'don't you know who she is?' ploy.

When the human hostess merely raised an eyebrow and snapped, "The tourists, not the Sheriff's pets are the priority here and we have plenty of local vampires to give the place character, so you're no big deal either," Sookie burst out laughing.

"Let's see if I can help," Sookie offered with a smirk. She looked at the hostess. "What my bodyguard is trying to explain to you is neither he nor the Sheriff's pets are who you need to be concerned about at the moment. I believe if you pick up your phone there, and call your Sheriff, you'll discover the person you need to worry about is me."

The girl scoffed and said, "I'm sorry ma'am but I can't just call the Sheriff every time someone wants a table when we're full to capacity. But I promise I'll get you seated as soon as I possibly can."

"Hmm, well I guess that's that," Sookie muttered. "Oh wait!" She pulled her cell out of her bag and dialed. Speaking loudly enough to ensure the hostess could hear, she said, "Eric darling? – I'm sorry to interrupt your meeting. Is Vivienne there with you? – Could I possibly speak to her? I promise it won't take a minute."

With the hostess wide-eyed and gaping, Sookie said to her, "Pesky business meetings, they all act like the world will end when you break into the middle." Sookie held up a finger, indicating for the girl to wait. "Hi again Vivienne, sorry to be such a bother, but could you possibly call up to this –" she put her hand over the phone and asked the hostess, "What's the name of this place?" Of course the club's name was emblazoned on everything in the room, but Sookie was having a good time.

"Madam Guillotine," the hostess stammered.

"Oh yeah! It's right there." Sookie pointed to the name on the wall behind the hostess. Into her phone, she repeated the name and, "Yes, just see if they can't find us a table. – Oh, the hostess is a perfectly lovely girl, but she says it isn't possible. – Sure, I'd be happy to hold."

The hostess jumped at least a foot off the floor when the phone on her dais rang. She answered and looked as if she would pass out any moment as she listened to what was being said to her.

As soon as the hostess hung up, Vivienne was back on the phone with Sookie. "Oh no, I don't think there's any need to fire her. She was doing her job properly. She just didn't know who I am, that's all. Eric and I haven't been here often enough for the employees to recognize us. – Thank you so much. – Sure. Put him back on. – No, no, everything's fine, all squared away now. Y'all can go back to whatever you were doing. – If you'd like to join us when you're through, we're at Madam Guillotine on the first floor. – I always want you." There was a pause and she hung up.

Sookie looked up and found the hostess had gone. "Where'd she go?"

"I think she went to get us a table," Fawn answered.

"She said she'd be right back," Clio added.

Sookie wandered over to have a closer look at an unoccupied guillotine. One thing people have always been good at, she thought, coming up with ways to snuff out an entire lifetime in seconds.

"Would you like to have your picture taken?" Ferdinand asked.

Sookie didn't answer right away. As a queen, standing where she was, she couldn't help but think of Marie Antoinette.

She ran her hand along the fake blade, which had been overly dulled to help protect zealous tourists from themselves. Occasionally they would stage their own mock executions, though signs forbidding it were displayed every few feet. The blade wouldn't take anyone's head off, but it could do some damage.

"You think I'm terribly spoiled and frivolous, don't you?"

"I am a mere soldier, Your Majesty. My opinion is of no consequence."

"Why is that? Why should your opinion not matter?"

"The only opinion of importance to a queen should be the opinion of her king."

Now Sookie looked at him, not with irritation or anger, but sadness. "Marie Antoinette would probably tell you differently if she was here."

"She might ask me to fetch the dessert cart."

"What a good little soldier you are. Everywhere I look, here, Shreveport, row after row of good little soldiers, all lined up, willing and eager to do his bidding. Tell me Ferdinand, why is it I have such difficulty being a good little queen? He asks less of me than the least of you. And he rewards me with so much more than the greatest among you."

"Perhaps things are not so out of balance as you believe. You say he asks less of you, but perhaps the little he asks from you would be seen as a great burden by someone else."

"You think so?" She laughed and smiled up at him. "He has only ever asked one thing of me, that I allow him to protect me. He has begged me to grant him that single request and I've fought against him constantly. He lays the world at my feet in exchange, but there seems to be no limit to my determination to resist."

The hostess returned and came to Sookie. "I'm so sorry for the wait, but if you'll follow me, your table is ready now."

The crowd and the dance floor seemed to improve Sookie's mood. Listening in to the carefree minds of the revelers around her helped too. She eased up and felt more light-hearted. She limited herself to dancing with the ladies in her group. Despite their earlier conversation, she really didn't want to dance with other men and make Eric jealous. She wanted to dance with Eric, no matter how much something else might amuse Pam. Pam could find her own amusement.

After a couple of hours, Sookie took Brenda to a back room pointed out by the hostess. A quick wrist feeding and she was ready for more dancing.

On the way back to their table, the strangest thing happened. Sookie picked up a brief flash from someone's mind. It was so quick she didn't have time to get a fix on where it came from and a scan of the immediate area resulted in nothing. For a second, someone had thought about a door opening, just a crack, and she had the oddest feeling that someone was a vampire, not a human.

Sookie installed Brenda in a chair at the table so she could rest for a few minutes. Before she took her own seat, Steven Tyler and Aerosmith began singing about Living On The Edge. Sookie grinned at Fawn. "Shall we?" she asked, extending a hand to Fawn. As they began to sway in unison, garnering the attention of every man in the club who was not paired off and some who were, the irony of them being the one couple on the dance floor who lived closer to the edge than any other was not lost on her.

The female DJ had spun her way through nearly an hour of her set of stadium rock oldies when Sookie heard a familiar hum begin near the entrance and gradually increase in volume as it spread through the club toward the dance floor. She didn't need to look. Eric had arrived.

Fawn almost stopped moving. She was clearly as impressed as most of the other occupants of the club. They'd never seen him make an entrance and that was always a sight to behold. Few did it with more aplomb than Eric. It was hard to imagine a god being more commanding.

Sookie continued her dance, turning her back to the new center of attention and smiling to herself as she felt that center moving along a course aimed directly at her. She twirled as he got within arms reach and No One Like You by The Scorpions began to thunder through the air.

"May I cut in?" He oozed raw, animal sex appeal from every pore as he effortlessly caught her by the waist and bent her into a swooping semi-circle dip before bringing her upright and crushing her to his hips as he fell into rhythm with the music.

He'd stopped to make a wardrobe change since she saw him last. He was now wearing black leather, jeans cut pants and a red satin dress shirt with a high collar and French cuffs, top three buttons open, exposing just enough skin to make his many admirers take gulping breaths and wish he'd open just one more. No doubt the clothes were chosen to accessorize his show stopping arrival, as if he wasn't fully aware he could bring a room to a halt regardless of what he did, or didn't, wear.

Sookie tossed her head back and gave him a lingering and appreciative once over. "I've been waiting for you."

"Have you?" He held her tight and they snaked around the floor, his hips driving them to the pulsing beat. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long, my love."

"A moment sometimes seems too long," she lowered her eyes.

"You're flirting with me," he laughed. What a lovely sound. He was so charming when he chose to be.

Her eyes met his and she offered him a smile. "The prince of seduction accuses me?"

"You confuse me with another, my beautiful coquet." He lifted her hips to his waist and held her there as he continued to gyrate in perfect tempo.

She wrapped her legs around his middle and dropped her arms to her sides forcing him to bear her weight. Of course her weight was nothing for him, but this precarious position allowed her to influence his balance. "Is that so?" she asked, tilting slightly to the side compelling him to alter the pattern of his steps to compensate for the shift.

"Indeed," he replied with a stunning grin and a fire burning behind the ice blue of his eyes. He was enjoying the game. "I am no callow prince, madam. I am a king."

"A king, you say?" Her body undulated wide to the right and she grabbed his neck pulling his head downward, her face ending up next to his ear. Her lips brushed his lobe and whispered, "So your command is law?"

"It is," he said with Give Me The Meltdown, by Rob Thomas taking over the speakers.

"Well, that is impressive," she said, resuming her position facing him, her hand sliding around from the side of his neck until her palm was flat on his upper chest, her fingertips just beneath his clavicles. "So, Your Majesty –"

She dropped her legs and pushed hard on his chest with her hand. That combination, coupled with the surprise of her sudden movement allowed her to propel herself backward and get out of his hold. She gave her entire body a slow, dramatic shake, her hair flowing in all directions.

"Command me," she teased. She closed her eyes and raised her hands over her head, writhing with the music.

Though he never fell out of time, his movements slowed while he watched Sookie as if she was giving him a lap dance. There were over three hundred people in the club, but they were too rapt in each other to notice or care.

When it was clear he would not speak a command, she shimmied her way back until she was pressed hard against him. She looked straight up and when she met his eyes, she murmured, "Shall I kneel?" as she began the slinky descent to her knees.

He reacted immediately, scooping her up and returning her to her seat at his waist. "No, Dearest, never that. No other man shall ever see you on your knees."

She leaned into him and embraced his neck. He carried her to their table and sat down, keeping her curled in his lap. "Have our travel arrangements been completed?" he asked over his shoulder.

"The flight leaves at 4am," Ferdinand said from behind them.

"Very good," Eric said.

Sookie raised her face and peered at Ferdinand, over Eric's shoulder as she nuzzled his cheek. "Ferdinand is a good little soldier, aren't you Ferdinand?"

"He is efficient and obedient," Eric answered.

"Yes," Sookie agreed, slipping off Eric's lap and allowing him to pull an empty chair over so she could sit beside him. "And he's no fun at all."

"Ferdinand, it seems your ability to amuse has been called into question by my queen," Eric said with a chuckle.

"The collective charms of Her Majesty and her ladies are such I was awed to silence much of the evening."

Ferdinand's remark was met with a round of giggles from Clio, Fawn and Brenda and outright belly laughter from Sookie.

"You see, my love? He compensates with flattery. But if you find yourself in need of more agreeable entertainments, we shall employ you a jester."

"I don't think we need to do anything quite so drastic. I suppose I'll be able to muddle through with what I have." To change the subject, she said, "Has Jason already been shipped back or will he be with us?"

Ferdinand stepped forward so he could address her without having to speak to her over Eric. "A large section of the plane has had the seats removed and been cordoned off so your brother may travel with you without posing a threat to the crew or other passengers, Your Majesty."

"Good. I was hoping to see him before tomorrow evening." Turning to Eric, she asked, "Do you have any more meetings or are you mine again?"

"I am ever yours, my love. As for now, I am at your disposal," he said, lifting her hand to his lips. "How may I endeavor to please you?"

"Will you take me for a walk? I think I'd like to see what the Strip looks like without looking through car windows."

"Of course, Dearest," he said gently. "Find a woman who enjoys simple pleasures, Ferdinand, and she will make you happy for eternity." Eric stood and pulled Sookie's chair back, holding her hand as she picked up her bag from the table and rose to join him. To the other three women at their table, he said, "Ladies, I trust Ferdinand will see you all safely to your rooms." And with that, Eric and Sookie headed toward the door.

They had only gotten a few steps from the table when Sookie got a very clear image of the door she'd seen earlier. Same door, but it had been nudged open slightly wider. She whipped her head around to catch the source of the thought and was surprised to find Ferdinand staring directly back at her.

He was caught off guard by her sudden movement and averted his eyes at once. The door slammed shut and Ferdinand's mind was again as closed to her as any vampire's normally was.

Curious about the way she jerked around, Eric glanced about behind them. "What is it, my love?" he asked when he saw nothing amiss.

Not wanting to admit she was seeing odd flashes from a vampire's mind, she said, "Nothing, I guess. I thought I heard someone think my dress was caught in my panties, but it isn't, so they must have been thinking about someone else." She ran her hand across the backside of her dress as if to confirm her point.

Eric followed her hand with a leer.

"Is my ass still where you left it?"

"Precisely," he chuckled. "And your clothing appears to be free of tangles. Perhaps we can rectify that before sunrise?"

"Walk now. Tangle on the plane," she said with a wink.

"I anticipate our flight more by the moment."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

"Is there any place you particularly want to see?" Eric asked, tightening his arm around her shoulder as they walked across the street toward the Luxor.

"Not really." She slipped an arm behind his waist and tucked her hand into the side of his waistband. An intimate gesture which served the purpose of keeping her arm in place so she didn't have to hold on to him. "I just wanted to be with you someplace without servants and ass kissers and security and relatives."

Rather than enter the Luxor grounds, they turned and continued on the sidewalk parallel to the street in silence. After a few moments Sookie asked, "Are you still angry with me?"

Eric stopped and stared down at her, his face a portrait of utter confusion and something else; something she couldn't quite place. He seemed to be considering and rejecting a long series of responses.

"I see you are. We won't fight about the bodyguards any more, Eric. I promise. And I won't send them away again. I know you're concerned about my safety and you're only trying to protect me.

It's hard for me sometimes when I feel all weighted down with people hanging all over me. And I feel responsible for them. Like I have to keep them busy or entertained or whatever. And sometimes I want to sit and do nothing or do something really boring and there they are, following every move I make. And –-"

The look on his face stopped her, his confusion, though still there, was now overrun by fear. "Eric, please say something. Please don't just let me keep carrying on like a crazy person."

"Am I still angry with you, you ask?" His voice was almost a whisper and the dread in his tone was echoed in the expression on his face. "Sookie, I need to ask you a question and you must answer me truthfully, no matter the answer. It is of vital importance. Do you understand?"

He was frightening her now. "Yes, of course, ask me anything. What's the matter? I've promised to cooperate."

"Sookie, will you always be afraid of me now?"

He might as well have asked if it was true she'd been having an affair and was running away to Europe with the new lesbian bouncer at Fangtasia. It would have made as much sense.

"What?"

"Do you fear me?"

"I'm afraid you're losing your mind. Why would I fear you?"

"When I left you in our suite tonight, after the way I'd treated you. After the way I –"

Sookie took both his hands in hers. "You were very angry and very mean. It wasn't nice and it wasn't OK. I did something stupid, you got pissed and you overreacted.

But Eric, at no time did I ever feel I was in any real danger from you. No, I'm not afraid of you. Maybe I always should have been, but I never was. I know you love me and you would never really hurt me."

He sank onto a bus stop bench and stared into his lap, tightening his hold on her hands, as if she would run away if he didn't. "But the fact is, I wanted to hurt you."

"But you didn't."

"I wanted to make you suffer so you would understand what I suffer when I think of the possibility of you in the hands of my enemies."

He raised his eyes to meet hers. He saw only her love and compassion. How was it possible? "When I left, I was certain you would never want to be alone with me again."

"How could you have thought that?" she asked, dismissing the idea outright. "I'm alone with you now." She stepped in between his legs and moved her hands to his shoulders. "I live to be alone with you." She cupped his face firmly between her hands and kissed him lightly before saying, "I died to be alone with you. Then and now, I love you more than life. I will never fear you."


	17. Chapter 17

_**Chapter 17**_

**.**

Sookie woke in her travel coffin. She figured she was most likely home and next to Eric's travel coffin. Heller could have removed Eric from his and laid him out on the bed, but he probably hadn't. Since Heller, and everyone else for that matter, was forbidden to touch Sookie as she slept, they tended to leave Eric alone as well. Maybe for balance, she thought.

Whatever the reason, she was awake now and had no desire to stay in this box a moment longer than necessary. She felt near her right hand for the latch handle and gave it a twist.

"Missed by only seconds," Eric said, his voice marked by disappointment as he leaned back to avoid being hit by the lid of her coffin as it sprang open. He stood naked at her side.

"Were you going to take unfair advantage of me in my sleep?" she teased, extending a hand for him to help her out.

"Not at all, my lover. It was my intention to carry you, sleeping, to our bed and wake you with gentle kisses."

"What's that, darling? I'm afraid I'm not fully awake." She feigned a yawn, turned her head and closed her eyes, her extended hand falling limp in his.

"What a shameless vixen you are," Eric whispered through his fully dropped fangs. He slipped his arms beneath her and carried her to the bed, carefully laying her upon it as if she were made from spun glass.

"How ardent a kiss will be required to wake the sleeping beauty, I wonder?"

Eric climbed into bed beside her and kissed the top of her head without disturbing a single hair before moving on to her hairline. As his lips breezed across her forehead, his right hand released the top button of her lace blouse. The next one opening when his tongue made a detour to explore her ear.

"Mmm," she responded, still not opening her eyes.

"I believe the lady stirs." Another button was loosened as he gently suckled her lobe, but only for a moment; then following along her cheekbone to kiss each of her eyelids, undoing the last two remaining buttons as he did.

"Open your eyes, my lover. Let me see you look into mine."

She stared deep into his eyes, kissing his chin as he kissed the tip of her nose. "One of my favorite things to do, looking at you."

"And your other favorite things to do?" His kisses moved to her cheek, allowing her to answer.

As they continued to hold one another's gaze, she said, "Waking up with you, going to sleep with you, having sex with you, feeling you inside me. Shall I go on?"

"I like this list," he said, his mouth colliding with hers permitting no further speech for the moment. His growing hunger was matched by her own as her hands ran the length of his upper arms before slinking around his torso and pulling him even closer to her.

She gasped her surprise as he moved to her neck. "Continue," he murmured before he bit.

"Ahh, your bite … your deep … hard … bite. Oh, Eric."

He unzipped her shorts and pulled them off her, along with her panties. He raised his head and grinned as he licked his lips. "And?"

He leaned and teased her nipple with his teeth. As he felt the rush of heat flow through her, he chuckled and licked his approval of her rise in temperature. "My beautiful lover, I have desired nothing as I desire you." He took her nipple and the tender flesh surrounding it in his mouth, his tongue working in tandem with his lips.

"You are my dreams," A long moan escaped her as her body began to rock against him in time to his sucking. "my fantasies … my wildest imaginings … you make me …"

Eric nudged a hand between her legs and she lifted her knee to oblige him. "Oh my god," she cried as her back arched and her nails dug into him.

"You were saying?" he snickered.

"I don't remember," she panted. Good grief, she was breathing.

"I make you?"

"Crazy!" she shouted as he dipped two fingers into her again.

"Is that what you were going to say?" He bit into her breast.

"No. Oh god, no … I was … gonna say … uhh … you make me … feel … things … ohhh, I … never … thought possible."

Eric looked into her eyes again. "All things are possible between us, my lover."

In an instant his hands were caressing the backs of her knees as he spread them wide to the sides.

Sookie had nothing else to say. No coherent words would form in her throat; only a series of moans and cries left her as she squeezed handfuls of duvet and reveled in the pleasure he was giving her.

How he loved the sound of going down on her, the secret melody only he could play. The unintelligible purr of her voice spoke to a place within him which had laid dormant for centuries. A place before ambition and vengeance and death took away the sun, leaving him cold and dark. Before werewolves and vampires were anything more than tall tales designed to keep children in their beds at night. When he was young and the thrill of a passionate woman was new.

As his strong hands stroked her inner thighs and held her firmly in place, his face felt the force of her hips as her body pleaded with his and desperately tried to guide his mouth to her clit and bring her to orgasm. She was his utterly and he was hers. He existed to please her. In this moment, no world existed for them outside this bed.

Her juices flowed freely and his mouth was flooded with the sweet taste of her. His tongue lapped hungrily at her, driving deeper and lingering longer with each contact as if he were attempting to lick her dry. Only when he heard the raised pitch of her mounting frustration tinge the edges of her moans did his tongue detour to the hot swollen flesh of her clit. He teased it with quick licks back and forth before taking it tight between his lips in wet, sucking kisses.

The ferocity of her screams as she bucked and orgasmed hard beneath him would have been terrifying to the ears of anyone else, but to him it was music. She sounded as if she was being ripped to pieces, and she was. Her body was being jolted in all directions from within by thunderous explosions of intense pleasure. A sight and sound reserved for his eyes and ears alone.

With a final touch of his tongue he slid his hands upward into hers and he raised his head to watch as her convulsing slowed to twitching. Then he crawled up beside her, gathering her close to him. Sookie, I love you so," he whispered into her hair.

His body craved its own fulfillment; every nerve alive and tingling in anticipation, every muscle and sinew on edge, waiting. He would hold her for a moment, long enough for her to ride out the most violent of her spasms. But only a moment, the demands of his need would allow no more. He knew he would lose his battle for self-containment, but he fought on for he also knew his reward for what he had just given her would be great, if only he could allow her time to regain the strength to give it.

He watched as a slow smile crept across her face, followed by the heavy sigh only a completely sated woman could make, his woman, his beautiful symphony, his Sookie. She turned to face him, her countenance an expression of such pure and complete love he felt as if he might be crushed beneath the very weight of it.

Her voice trembled as she said, "I don't know the words to tell you how much I love you. They all seem so small."

"Show me," he murmured.

Her smile broadened as she leaned into him and kissed his neck. He reacted at once, tilting his head to offer himself to her.

"Let's see if I can," she said, kissing him again before pulling her knees under her and dragging herself backward down his body. She touched random places along his torso with her tongue and kissed lightly, as if tasting. Each taste was followed by delicious sounds of approval, but words of rejection. "No, not here," at his breast. "mmm, so close," when her tongue dipped into his solar plexus.

It was no secret where she was going, but she savored him as she progressed as if she were sampling an array of fine wines, never allowing her lips to tarry long enough in a single place to show favoritism to any one part of him.

Though he permitted only a lone muffled moan to escape him, inside him the trapped screams of his desire bombarded his brain. The pulsing, blood engorged tightness of his cock threatened to overtake all else if it did not receive the attention it longed for. He stretched his arms behind him and gripped the bottom edge of the headboard to help him resist the urge to grab her and take her now.

The passion of her every touch, every movement was more torturously overwhelming than the last. When she placed her hand lightly on his upper thigh, his leg immediately moved outward in invitation for her to enter the space between his knees. To his surprise, she didn't.

Her arm coiled around his thigh and pulled it wide. He sucked in a hard breath and felt the wrought iron of the headboard frame giving way to his hold as her hair brushed against him. It was too much. He couldn't bear it. His lust for her would not be suppressed much longer.

It was barely above a whisper, but to his tremendous relief he finally heard her say it. "There it is." As his hips jockeyed into position and prepared to thrust into her, she surprised him yet again.

Her bite was swift and deep. Her fangs found and held the top of his femoral artery in the crook of his hip. With one arm over his thigh and the other under his waist she kept herself in place as the headboard was torn asunder, his body lurched and he roared with such savagery surely it broke the soundproof barrier of their room.

He gave himself over to her completely. He had no alternative. Reason and organized thought were no longer viable options. They had abandoned him to his base prurience and the sensation of his essence coursing from him and into her.

When he calmed enough for her to loosen her hold without fear of being displaced, her fingers traced large circular patterns tickling the rippled planes of his midsection as she took several long draws from the intoxicating elixir that flowed dark and sweet through his veins. It was time.

The palm of her hand landed almost imperceptibly and slid gently down his shaft dragging his foreskin with it, leaving his head as exposed and vulnerable as an overly ripe plum already sticky and seeping with the richness it held within it's tender flesh.

"Sookie, please," he implored, his voice strained and rife with desperation. She was making him beg and he didn't care. What he wanted couldn't be taken from her. He wanted the gift of her passion, her desire to please him, her primal appetites only he was offered the opportunity to gratify and most urgently he wanted to feel the warm wet of her mouth given freely to him.

Waves of shudders rumbled through him as she licked the salty sweet dew from his head before taking it in her mouth. No heaven envisioned by god or man could compare with this.

His attempts at constraint were futile. His illusions of control had dissolved at her touch. He was at her mercy and the favor she showed him now pushed the boundaries of even his expectations.

Her body curled around his leg as she devoured him, taking him in gradually with gentle strokes from her hand meeting her increasingly pressured sucks. He could feel her tongue trying to wrap its self around him as she consumed him. If she was trying to drive him mad, she was succeeding. He welcomed his impending madness with a long guttural moan as her lips tightened around his cock and she pulled back to lovingly kiss the head.

His hips involuntarily thrust upward, attempting to compel her mouth to continue. He couldn't be certain, but through the fog of his lust he thought he heard a giggle before she asked, "Are you ready?"

Though in his mind he proffered a soliloquy praising her skill and chiding her for teasing him so unmercifully, his lips would permit but a single syllable. "Yes."

His back went rigid with the force of her attack. She swallowed and gulped until he was surrounded by her. Her subsequent increasing rhythm of her rising and falling was his undoing. His shattering release came fast and hard. Somehow she managed to keep pace with his turbulent undulation as she swallowed all he had to give.

When he was drained and lying exhausted, she crept back up to his side and slung an arm over him. He brought an arm around her and held her in the silence. She was the stuff of epic poetry … and she was his.

Sadly, time would not stand still for them. "Will you join me in the shower?" he asked, his voice fully recovered from its strain.

"Feeling dirty?" she asked with a coy smirk.

"Very, my voracious vixen." His seductive grin matched hers watt for watt.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Eric had scarcely left their room when Genevieve, Shana and Karen hurried in to join her. Sookie smiled patiently as she looked about the room. "Anyone know what happened to my purse?"

"When you arrived this morning, they brought a cardboard box too," Genevieve offered. "It was sealed closed so no one opened it."

"Oh good," Sookie said. "Where is it?"

"It's still by the front door where they left it. Heller was going to move it, but since we didn't know what it was, we weren't sure where to put it. It's pretty heavy."

"Well, let's go open a mystery box," Sookie said as she headed for the front door with the others trailing after her. She looked around the main living area and when she only saw Heller, she asked about Jason.

"He's in a guest room," Genevieve answered as she entered the kitchen. "He was up all morning and I guess he was up all last night too, so he was pretty worn out. He's probably still asleep."

Genevieve brought a knife from the kitchen and passed it to Sookie, who sliced through the tape and opened the box. Her purse was there, right on top, along with a handkerchief, a large leather collar and several lengths of thick chain. It was the rigging used to confine Jason in the cordoned area of the plane for their flight home.

"How weird," Sookie said. "I guess it's like the plastic water pitchers and bedpans in the hospital. If you touch it, you own it." She opened her purse and took out her cell phone.

"Would you like for me to store the other things, Your Majesty?" came Heller's soft low voice.

Sookie turned and gave him a smile. As always, she briefly tried to imagine what he must have looked like before the werewolf attack. He must have been terribly handsome, because even now, as scarred as he was, his face was still pleasant to the eye. One night she'd have to ask him about the attack, but not tonight. Tonight her plate was filled with other things.

"Thank you Heller. If you'd put the box by Jason's door. If you and Genevieve wouldn't mind, I think I'd rather have him chained in his room and be able to leave his door opened so he doesn't feel alone, rather than have him closed up in there while I'm out. I have to go see Mina, but if you two would be uncomfortable being exposed to him, we'll just close the door and he'll just have to deal with it."

Genevieve looked to Heller. She was leaving it to him to speak considering his history with weres.

"I think Jason knows us well enough it won't be a problem. We could probably leave him loose," Heller answered.

His voice was strong and confident, but Sookie didn't want to take a chance that Heller was sounding that way for her benefit. She wouldn't take any chances. Heller and Genevieve lived here. She wouldn't have them afraid in their own home if she could help it.

"No. We'll leave the door open, but we'll chain him after I get dressed. Leave the chains and collar by the door. I'm not sure who the handkerchief belongs to."

"It's the master's," Heller answered without hesitation. Apparently the short time he'd been serving as Eric's valet was enough for him to have committed Eric's entire wardrobe to memory, right down to the handkerchiefs."

"Oh, well I guess you know what to do with it then," Sookie said with a snort before returning her attention to her cell as she walked back toward her dressing room. She was about to hit Pam on speed dial when she stopped and looked back at Genevieve, who had stayed behind in the kitchen. "Is Ferdinand staying here or someplace else?"

"The new security guy is in the suite across the hall, next to the donors."

"Good. And what about Mina? How long will she be at the clinic? We'll need to arrange for whatever equipment she'll need here before she comes home."

"Mina isn't at Dr. Ludwig's clinic," Genevieve said with some trepidation in her tone.

That got Sookie's full attention. "What?"

"She was taken there at first, right from the airport, but Dr. Ludwig said Mina's leg was broken too badly for her to treat. She said all she'd be able to do was cut it off."

"WHAT?" Sookie shrieked and her phone flew across the room crashing against the leg of a sofa as she fell back against the wall next to her bedroom door. Her hands grappled with the wall in an effort to keep her balanced and upright as her mind reeled. "Oh my god! Where is she now?"

"The Master arranged for her to be transferred to the new orthopedic center at Shreve General last night. They woke up a specialist to come see her. He came back again this morning. He's bringing in another doctor to see her tonight."

"Eric did that? Last night?"

"Yes," Genevieve answered.

Sookie looked around the room. Though she stood surrounded by four others and she knew Jason was sleeping in the next room, her home seemed empty. Mina filled such a large place here. Her absence left a cavernous echo. "Has she been left alone?"

"I imagine Oliver is there by now. He was going to stop by that Mexican food place she likes so much and take her something from there. He thought it might cheer her up a little. She's been pretty down.

We all took turns sitting with her today, so she wouldn't be alone."

"You said she was waiting for another doctor to come?" Sookie asked.

"Yes," Karen interrupted. "When I left he hadn't come, but one of the nurses said he was still in the hospital. He had an emergency surgery. She said he'd probably come see Mina when he was through with that."

Sookie's hands moved to each side of her head, as if she were trying to keep it from snapping off and rolling under the dining table. "A surgeon, dear god, I've got to get to the hospital." Her brain pushed past the shock and kicked into high gear.

"OK. Karen, go over to the donor suite and send someone over here," Sookie began.

"I'm happy to feed you, Mistress." Karen extended her wrist.

Sookie smiled and squeezed Karen's hand. "Not now, dear. Later, when I'm not rushed. Right now just send some other female over here since I'll be dressing. I can't have Eric shredding some poor man because he saw my underwear.

Then I need you to go to whichever suite Ferdinand is in. Tell him I need to get to the hospital as soon as possible so he'll have to get me a car and do whatever he needs to do for me to leave. Make sure he knows who to contact about things and see if he needs any help.

Genevieve, Heller, you two will be here with Jason. Shana, you come help me get ready to leave." Then looking around until her eyes located her phone in pieces on the floor, she raised her voice and added, "And somebody get me another phone."

Sookie hurried into her dressing room and stripped off the electric blue robe she was wearing. "Any old sundress is fine, and maybe a light sweater in case there's a cool breeze or something," she instructed as she dug into a lingerie drawer and produced a matching set of pale pink panties and bra.

She sat at her dressing table and began brushing her hair as Shana hung a full-skirted green seersucker sundress with a large yellow pocket at each hip, near where Sookie was seated.

"Find something to clip over a ponytail that'll go with that," Sookie said as she reached for a holder and twisted it around her hair.

There was a shy knock on the door and Shana opened it. A young woman who looked to be no more than twenty was standing there looking very nervous.

"Come in, come in," Sookie said, waving her hand to the girl. "I don't mean to sound rude, but I'm in a terrible hurry just now. You look like you're about to faint. You're not going to faint are you?"

"Sorry, I'm just a little tense. I've never done this before. It's a real honor for my first time to be here." The girl extended her hand to shake. "My name's –"

"Stop!" Sookie looked down at the girl's extended hand but didn't take it. She understood now why vampires didn't shake hands, particularly with a human. They weren't going to be friends or business associates or be invited to the same parties. There was something unnerving about donors who offered their friendship so readily. Your eggs and toast were not supposed to introduce themselves and try to shake your hand. Granted, she wasn't going to eat the girl with a knife and fork, but still.

"I apologize for no one explaining to you how this works," Sookie said, drawing in a breath to try and cleanse the creepy feeling from her. "I don't have time to give you any explanations either, but if you'll just sit down here, it will only take a couple of minutes. It doesn't hurt much more than getting a big shot at the doctor's office. Only it's wetter."

The girl sat in the chair and Sookie lifted her wrist. "Please don't speak." Sookie closed her eyes and bit as lightly as she could while still penetrating deep enough to be able to keep the blood flowing freely long enough to quell the sound of rushing water coursing through her head.

When Sookie released the girl's wrist, she again feared the girl was in danger of fainting. "You're tastes healthy, but you don't look well," she said to the girl. "Shana, go get Heller."

Sookie reached for her dress and slipped it over her head. Dressing was so much simpler in the summertime. When the girl put her hands in the seat of her chair and pushed as if she were going to try and stand, Sookie place a hand lightly on her shoulder. "Wait. Shana went to get someone to help you. If you decide to stay in the donor pool, make sure you take the vitamins provided and eat properly."

"Thank you," the girl said meekly.

How absurd, Sookie thought. What must this girl's life be that she offers herself to be drained to the point of weakness and then thanks her drainer? Probably like Mina's was.

Oh god, Mina. No doubt she was wishing she was back to being broke in a one room apartment with no utilities and no family. Instead, she was lying in a hospital bed because a tiger had thrown a panther at her, smashing her leg so badly she now had doctors threatening to cut it off.

Thankfully Heller arrived before Sookie managed to work herself into hysterics over the ridiculousness of the whole situation. She sat back in her chair and Shana grabbed a wide clip with several small silk daisies attached to it and set about deciding how to position it in the most flattering manner.

"Heller, would you please take this girl back across the hall and tell whoever is in charge over there that if I come across anyone else in the donor pool who hasn't been properly prepared for what they can expect and for what we expect of them, I will not be happy."

"Of course, Mistress." Heller nodded his head. "I spoke to your brother and he seemed to agree with your suggestion. Since I know you're anxious to leave to see Mina, I took the liberty of seeing to his arrangements for the evening."

Heller was so discreet. It touched Sookie's heart to listen to how carefully he chose his words as he talked in front of the anonymous donor about chaining up her brother in the other room. "You're a jewel, Heller. I'll never understand why Pam didn't try to talk me out of Genevieve."

Heller nodded again, took the girl by the arm and half carried her out, closing the door behind them.

"We need to find you someone as loyal and dependable as Heller, who will look at you the way he looks at Genevieve," Sookie said with a grin.

Shana's cheeks suddenly looked sunburned. "I don't think there are too many Hellers waiting around for the chance to hook up with someone like me."

Sookie stood and stepped to the door. "Then it's a good thing we don't need too many. We only need one."

Sookie was ready to leave Valhalla a full half hour before they were finally able to leave. Ferdinand apologized profusely, but insisted the delay was necessary in order for him to be satisfied everything was in order.

She spent most of her wait time on the phone with Pam making arrangements to borrow Pandora. She had to have someone to take over Mina's responsibilities until she was up and about again.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Shreve General was a sprawling complex of buildings and additions to buildings, all of which had been originally built or added on in different decades. It appeared no effort or thought at all had ever gone into symmetry or aesthetics of any description. When they needed more space, apparently they simply hired a contractor and said, "build us something with space in it." After sixty years, the result was four square city blocks that looked like someone had built a six-story quilt with an erector set and a massive box of Legos.

The Orthopedic Center was housed in the newest addition and Mina was in room 443. Sookie disapproved immediately. Mina's room was near the end of a long hall, almost as far as she could possibly be from the nurse's station. That would have to be fixed.

With Ferdinand and two Britlingens in tow, Sookie headed down the hall imagining the length of time it would take a nurse to respond to someone this far away. This was poor design, plain and simple, even she could see it. The nurses would be worn out by the end of their shifts; no one could work efficiently like that.

Mina would have to be moved closer to the nurses station or else have round the clock private nursing to see to her needs, preferably both. Halfway to the room, Oliver came out to meet her. Someone had called to tell him she was coming.

Oliver dropped to his knees in front of her and bowed his head low. Sookie had to hold out a hand to Ferdinand to keep him from coming forward.

"Get up, Oliver," she said quietly.

"Your Majesty's kindness and generosity in the face of my derelict failure is humbling beyond measure." He remained bowed.

"Oh good grief, Oliver, don't call me that and stand up. Now."

Oliver slowly rose to his feet, but he didn't meet her eyes.

"Has the surgeon been to see her yet?" Sookie asked.

Oliver cringed at the word surgeon. He feared the worst. "We're told he just finished a surgery and he should be down to see Mina within the hour."

"And how is she? Is she in pain?"

"She is heavily medicated, but the nurses tell me it is more to keep her calm than for pain. She is terrified she will lose her leg." Oliver choked on his last words, and though none fell, Sookie could see the red moisture glistening along the rims of his eyes.

"She'll have the best care available. Anything she needs. Anything she wants," Sookie assured him.

"I know the King has relieved me of my position. I have nothing. I cannot repay the expense for the care of my pet."

"Enough!" Sookie snapped angrily, causing Oliver to flinch. "It's true we have some pretty big problems to work through, but it doesn't help any of them for you to be whining and carrying on and acting like the world was coming to an end. Do you think I would demand to be repaid for Mina's health? For her leg? The leg she injured while she was with me? Do you really think so little of me? I love her too, Oliver!"

Sookie was furious. She was trembling with righteous outrage and she could feel her own eyes threatening to flow red. She paced the width of the hall glaring at Oliver. It took several minutes before she felt she could speak without screaming.

"Things are rarely as bad as they seem. We'll get through this together. As far as Eric goes, he's very angry but he's also compassionate. He just doesn't show off his compassion around people."

She thought of last night and how she had spent the entire evening consumed by thoughts of only herself. Then she thought of Eric, maintaining his public bravado as he worried about his actions and their impact. Yet in the midst of his business; his thrilling the public; his wooing her on the dance floor; and his concern he had irreparably changed her feelings for him, he had paused long enough to think of dear, sweet, tender-hearted Mina.

Before entering Mina's room she sent Eric a text. "You are still my knight and I love you"


	18. Chapter 18

_**Chapter 18**_

**.**

Mina's smile filled her face when Sookie entered the room. She tried to push herself up into a sitting position, but her grimace gave away her pain.

Sookie rushed to her side, fluffed her pillow and insisted she lie back down. "You need better pillows in here and more of them. I'll see that someone brings them from home tonight."

"Thank you, Mistress. That would be much more comfortable," Mina said.

Her voice was so weak and small. The sound of it broke Sookie's heart. Sookie sat in the chair next to the bed and held Mina's hand.

"I hear the doctor coming to see you is very good," Sookie said, trying not to sound nervous. "I'm sure he'll be able to fix you up just fine."

Oliver stood in the corner of the room looking as if he would collapse any minute.

"Yes," Mina agreed cheerfully. "Dr. Rhinehart, the doctor who saw me last night and this morning says he's the best in the area. His name is Dr. Wisemar. He's the head of the Orthopedics Department here at Shreve General."

"Well, there you have it. He must be good if he's the head of the department." Sookie could feel her smile faltering, but she was determined not to cry. If she started crying she knew Mina would try to comfort her and she couldn't bear it if that happened.

"Oliver, find a pen and something to write on so we can make a list of things Mina needs to have brought up here."

Oliver rummaged through a side table drawer and found a paper and pen. No sooner did he have them in hand than Sookie began dictating various items for him to write down. They had made it through personal hygiene products and an assortment of specific pillows cushions and blankets and they were moving on to which of Mina's clothes should be brought up when there was a light rap on the door and two men in lab coats entered the room.

Sookie stood, but when Mina reacted by tightening her handhold, Sookie stepped closer to the bed and gave Mina what she hoped was a soothing smile.

"How are you tonight Mina?" the man, who Sookie assumed was Dr. Rhinehart since he seemed to have spoken to Mina before, asked.

"Sore from moving around so much today," Mina said softly.

"We'll see if we can't do something about that," the other man said. Then looking from Oliver to Sookie, he said, "If you two would excuse us, you'll be welcomed to come back in after we've discussed treatment options."

Mina looked panic stricken. She yanked Sookie's hand to her chest. "Please don't leave me, Mistress."

Sookie did not try to pull free. She patted Mina's arm with her free hand. "It's alright, Mina. I'm not going anywhere." To the doctors, Sookie said, "Mina is my dearest friend. I'll stay with her while you tell her how you see her options. My name is Sookie."

"I'm Dr. Rhinehart," the first man said. "And this is our Chief of Orthopedics, Dr. Wisegar."

Dr. Wisegar looked disapprovingly at Sookie. For the first time since she'd arrived, Oliver appeared to be paying attention to his surroundings. He was obviously taking offense at Dr. Wisegar's attitude.

"Can you save her leg, Dr. Wisegar?" Sookie asked firmly.

"That's what I do, Miss?"

"Mrs. Northman."

"I see," he said, glancing at Sookie's left hand, which was still being tightly held by Mina. He directed his attention to the patient. "What we're dealing with is a compound comminuted fracture of the femur. There are three primary fractures with some fragmenting."

Dr. Rhinehart popped an x-ray into the holding slots of the flat white light fixture on the wall and the damage to Mina's leg was visible to everyone. Dr. Wisegar pointed out the three fractures, then what looked like someone had tossed several pebbles onto the x-ray film before it was developed.

"We're lucky, in that the fragmentation appears to consist primarily of pieces large enough for pin placement."

"Pin placement?" Mina asked, her tone flooded with relief. "So you think you'll be able to put it back together?"

"That will depend a great deal on how committed you are to healing."

"We're determined to have her whole again, Dr. Wisegar," Sookie stated. "Mina is very important to me and I'm not prepared to separate with any part of her. She'll have whatever she needs."

"You must understand, Mrs. Northman, Mina is going to need a lot of care, both here in the hospital and when she goes home. It will be extremely expensive. I notice she is uninsured, but her hospital stay is being guaranteed by Burnham Financial. I'll have a social worker visit her tomorrow to discuss what arrangements can be made for her once she's discharged."

"You'll do nothing of the kind," Sookie snarled. "Mina is not some derelict street person throwing herself on the mercy of your charity programs." With her eyes never leaving Dr. Wisegar's Sookie continued. "Oliver, call Saule. Tell her I need two nurses in this room around the clock and I need them here within the hour. Then call Bobby Burnham and tell him if anyone in this hospital says a single word to Mina or me about money again I'll expect his resignation."

"Right away, Mistress," Oliver said proudly.

"Now that that's settled, I think you were about to tell us exactly how you plan to go about repairing Mina's leg," Sookie said, still holding the Doctor's now more than impressed gaze.

He smiled and went on. "I plan on putting Mina in an external fixator device called an Ilizarov Aparatus. I'll show you pictures, but I prefer to explain first because some patients are shocked when they first see them if they've not been prepared.

We'll take you into surgery day after tomorrow. First we'll properly reassemble your bone, like a jigsaw puzzle, getting as many fragments as possible lined up. Next we'll insert steel pins, from the outside of your leg, into each side of the fractures and in each of the fragments large enough to hold a pin.

The pins will not be on the inside, they will literally be inserted from the outside, just as if we were sticking pins into a voodoo doll."

Mina drew in a hard, sharp breath and squeezed Sookie's hand.

"I think we'd like to see those pictures now, if you don't mind," Sookie said.

The pictures showed a leg surrounded by a sort of cage made from metal circles and rods, with pins running from the rings and into the flesh of the person in the picture. It looked like some sort of dreadful torture contraption Sookie would have expected to see in the Oubliette, not a hospital in Shreveport.

"I know it's a lot to take in at first look, but it is quite an ingenious device. It allows the bone to be held in proper position at all times, while at the same time allowing the patient to start using their injured limb within days of surgery."

For the next forty minutes Dr. Wisemar answered questions and went into more detail about the surgical procedure. A nurse would come by tomorrow to spend more time with Mina going over what she could expect during her four to six months in the device. By the time the doctors left the room Mina seemed to be quite a bit calmer and both she and Sookie were convinced this Ilizarov cage thing was going to work.

The doctors had been gone only a few minutes when a nurse entered with a new pain medication for Mina as well as something to help her sleep.

By the time the two private nurses from Saule arrived, Mina was smiling and her eyelids were drooping. When she drifted off, Sookie asked Oliver to come out with her.

Oliver dutifully followed Sookie up the hall as she searched for a place for them to talk with at least some small degree of privacy. They entered a family waiting room a short distance from the nurse's station.

It was a long rectangular room filled with rows of uncomfortable looking chairs with thinly cushioned plaid seats and hard plastic arms. A tall magazine rack in the center separated the room into mirror images of the same dull space, each with its own television set to drone in a low hum on a different channel.

Four of the five occupants of the first section of the room looked up as the two Britlingens positioned themselves at the doorway and Sookie, Oliver and Ferdinand passed through to the other side.

Ferdinand picked up a magazine and took a seat near the rack. Sookie led Oliver to the space in the corner, underneath where the television was bolted high on the wall.

A man in a lab coat was being interviewed above their heads. ~~ … _can be exhaustive work which can take years, even decades … ~~_

"Oliver, I need you to listen to everything I have to say before you say anything, OK?"

"Of course, Mistress." Oliver's eyes were empty. He looked like a man who had resigned himself to nothing in his world ever being OK again.

"OK. First thing, I release you from your pledge to me."

Oliver closed his eyes and lowered his head. It was worse than he'd imagined. Eric had arranged for Mina's care, Sookie had rushed to her side and that was great, but he was being released. Eric wasn't going to kill him, he was going to make him suffer separation from his love. He had broken his vow and placed Eric's love at risk by leaving her alone and exposed outside the Leanne Institute. Now Eric was having his retribution. He was to be left with nothing, not even a feeling he had been wronged by an unjust sentence, since by all rights he should have been executed for his failure. He had no doubt it was by Sookie's hand that for a second time he had escaped death.

"Now before you go getting all mopey, I have to tell you, if I had known I could release you once I became a vampire, I'd have done it already. I tried when I was human, remember? I love having you with me now and if you want to stay, we'll make it work, I promise, but it will be because you want to, not because you have to."

Hope flickered in Oliver's heart as he raised his eyes to look into Sookie's face. How could anyone not love this woman, he thought. Her generosity alone was enough to place her among the best and most noble people he had ever known.

_~~… a person's mind will simply overload on one thing, one thought or one emotion and get hung there. Like a scratch on an old record … ~~_

"I'm sorry, but I need you to move out of the penthouse for the time being. I'm hoping it won't have to be for too long. And Oliver, I hope you understand Eric is punishing me as well as you by doing this. I don't want you to go. In fact, I want you to stay close. I want you to move into one of the guest suites on our floor.

I also want to hire you to work for me. Your first job is to look after Mina while she's in the hospital. We'll have to see how soon Eric will allow you back in the house once she's released from here, but we'll deal with that when the time comes. Everything will be alright again eventually."

Sookie's smile melted him. "Your graciousness is beyond –"

_~~ … as if the mind had compartmentalized the issue causing the problem, but left the door of the compartment door open … ~~_

"—compare, my lady. I know it is to you I owe my life a second time. I cannot express my gratitude enough. I am –"

_~~ … could go in and close that door … ~~_

Sookie didn't hear another word Oliver was saying. She reached out and scooped him aside as she stepped from under the television and looked up at the screen.

_~~ … it would be like building a bridge, allowing the patient's thoughts and emotions to flow properly without pooling in one place … ~~_

The doors. Her head whipped around to the area near the magazine stand. "Ferdinand," she unintentionally said aloud. She'd seen a door in his mind more than once. Did he sometimes have something on his mind overriding everything else?

Ferdinand rose quickly to his feet when she mentioned his name. "May I be of service?"

Sookie's brows furrowed as she tried to keep her train of thought and not get distracted by Ferdinand speaking to her. She held up a hand to keep him silent and began pacing their side of the room.

Oliver fell silent as well and together he and Ferdinand stared as Sookie walked back and forth, lost in her own thoughts, her face scrunched tight as if sorting out the details of a particularly perplexing problem.

She'd seen a door at the Leanne Institute. When she'd been searching the minds of the patients looking for any information which might have helped them locate Jason or Elinor Quinn. Someone in the group had been thinking of a very large and ornately carved, heavy wood door.

She looked up at Ferdinand again. No door, but even when there had been one, it had only been for seconds and it was not the same door she'd seen at Leanne. Ferdinand's door was more narrow and made from rich dark red wood with fine metalwork designs at the top and bottom. There had to have been another vampire at the Leanne Institute. Someone she didn't know, one of the patients.

"Ferdinand, you spent the most time there, when you were at the Leanne Institute did you ever see or hear of a vampire other than you being there? Maybe one of the patients?"

Whatever Ferdinand had been expecting Sookie to say, this hadn't been it. His confusion was made clear by the way he sputtered his reply. "Another vampire? No, my lady, to my knowledge The Leanne Institute is a facility for shapeshifters. I never saw any vampires among the staff or patients. However I saw very few patients."

"Of course if there was one, you wouldn't have had any reason to take notice. Alright then, I need to talk to Eric. Find out if he's at The Asgard. If he is, we're going there, if not we'll go home."

Turning to Oliver she said, "Mina's sleeping and she has her private nurses now. Go check on her and then you need to get home before sunrise. You can move tomorrow evening. In the mean time, tonight, I want you to call the Institute and find out if they have a vampire patient. If they do, I want to know everything you can find out about them. Call me and let me know as soon as you find out anything."

"Yes, Mistress," Oliver said with a grateful bow of his head.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

As Sookie entered the main casino, her eyes went immediately to her right, to the royal platform. The platform, which stood five feet above the casino floor, offered the best inside view in the building. Unlike Sookie's private seating in the Hall of the Goddess, the royal platform had no table. It held seating for four guests and Eric's magnificent chair, which he refused to call a throne despite the fact it clearly was.

She had advanced only a few steps toward him when he looked away from the two men seated with him and offered her a dazzling smile. She made her way quickly to him and he stood to receive her. The two men followed his lead and also stood.

"Gentlemen, it is my honor to present the Goddess of Asgard, my beautiful wife, Queen Sookie," Eric said, placing a hand at the small of her back. "My love, this is Mr. Shaver and Mr. Dyson. They are interested in purchasing a Bossier City property from us."

"It's very nice to meet Mr. Shaver, Mr. Dyson. I hope you're able to reach an agreement everyone is happy with." She wished she hadn't barged into the middle of a business meeting. She'd assumed it was more of a social visit; a simple introduction or tourists seeking an autograph.

She was about to smile awkwardly and excuse herself when she heard Mr. Dyson begin a mental rant about having to endure her stupid interruption. It was bad enough having to do business in a crowded casino in the middle of the night without being disrupted by a woman who clearly spent more of her time clothes shopping than with real estate concerns.

These men had no idea just how much of a disadvantage they were at in this negotiation. Sookie knew it wasn't possible for them to get the better deal because when it came right down to it, Eric didn't give a tinker's damn whether he sold any of his Bossier City property or not. If he'd been serious, this meeting would be taking place in his office.

"Darling!" she cried in the poutiest voice she could manage. She faced Eric and put a hand on his chest. "Oh, please tell me it isn't that building near the river you're thinking of selling. The one with the lovely stone pathways and all the wildflowers."

"The very one," he replied. He was unsure of what she was playing at, but he was willing to allow her to amuse herself.

"But Eric, you know how I love to walk in the moonlight there."

"Valhalla has several gardens, my love, surely your taste for moonlit walks can be satisfied there?"

Sookie's lower lip protruded slightly as she rolled her eyes and huffed like a petulant child. "But don't you remember when we walked there together, my darling?" She stepped in very close to him. "Is our memory for sale along with the stone and glass?"

She turned her head and beamed triumphantly at the two men. She got precisely the reaction she was looking for. Behind their indulgent smiles their minds were both resolved to have the building away from this bitch at all costs.

"Of course not, Dearest." Eric leaned and kissed Sookie's forehead, flashing her a wicked grin when his face was out of sight of the two men. "Now, don't you have anything to do while I finish up here?"

"I was thinking of playing roulette again. I've been thinking and I believe I lost so much last time because my bets were too small. I figure if I make much larger bets this time, I'll have much smaller losses." She smiled her brightest smile at the men as they laughed in their heads about what an idiot she was. Apparently even powerful vampires fell for fools with nice tits, they were thinking.

"Excellent strategy," Eric said to her as he brought her hand to his lips. His eyes were dancing with delight. She didn't need to be able to read his thoughts to know how pleased he was with her. "Run along now and I will join you directly."

Twenty minutes later Eric strolled up behind her at one of the several roulette tables on the floor. "If I am not mistaken Dearest, you have never set foot near that building in Bossier City."

"Ah, but I've seen the drawings," she laughed.

"I assure you, it is not nearly so charming as the drawings would imply," he said with a chuckle. "Twenty-four," he whispered into her ear before kissing it.

Sookie placed a stack of chips in front of her. "Twenty-four, black," she said, then turned to Eric. "They paid more than they were going to, didn't they?"

"They had no choice," he laughed. "I was forced to insist on a sum even my apparently mathematically challenged bride would see the wisdom of accepting. Though why she should wish them to think her simple when I know it is not true remains a mystery to me."

"They think all women are stupid anyway. Nothing I could have said or done would have changed that. They were irritated by my interruption, and I do apologize for that. I didn't know it was a business meeting." Sookie shrugged and added, "I just figured I'd give them something to really be irritated about."

"And you succeeded brilliantly. Fourteen."

Sookie turned, counted off a small stack of chips and looked to the dealer. "Fourteen red," she said, placing the stack in the field of play. Before turning back to Eric she grabbed another stack from her tray and placed them on even.

"You're learning," Eric whispered.

"Surprised?"

"Only to see you here this evening, my love. Dare I hope you missed me?"

Sookie slipped a hand behind his neck and pulled his face down to meet hers. "I miss you desperately the minute you're away from me, but I think you know that. I'm here because I need to ask you about something. When we were at the Leanne Institute, did you notice if there were any other vampires there? Who were there before we got there, I mean?"

"What an odd question," Eric replied, curiosity plain on his face. "I saw only one. She was among the patients, an oddity in its self since vampires in her condition are rarely left alive. As I recall, she appeared rather vacant. What causes you to inquire after her now? I should think any curiosity you had with regard to her would have been better satisfied while we were there."

Sookie's expression turned serious and she lowered her voice. "Can we go to your office?"

Eric looked over his shoulder. "Ferdinand, collect the Queen's winnings, then you and the guards come to my office." He draped Sookie's arm over his and they moved quickly to his office suite.

"When Ferdinand arrives, he won't be able to hear us will he?" Sookie asked when Eric had closed his office door behind them.

Eric's curiosity was now tinged with concern as he answered. "The room is soundproof, even from vampires. What has you so worried, my love?"

Sookie sat on the edge of his desk facing his chair and waited for him to sit. He took her hand and she was grateful. The physical connection with him gave her courage. One thing he and Bill had agreed on was the danger she could be in if she were able to read vampire thoughts. She decided her best bet would be to be direct.

"Eric, I think I might be able to read some vampire thoughts."

Not a flinch. If her revelation was a shock he didn't show it. He reached out and pulled her into his lap to ease her nervousness, holding her gaze as if waiting for her to continue.

When it was clear she was expecting him to speak, he put together the information she's supplied him thus far and asked, "You said 'some' vampire thoughts. Do you mean the thoughts of only select vampires or only select thoughts?"

"Both, I think."

Eric cupped her hand in both of his and closed his eyes. "Dearest, is it your intention to tell me why you think this or shall I attempt to discern it for myself?"

A floodgate opened and everything Sookie was thinking came spilling out. He listened carefully as she told him about seeing the heavy door in someone's thoughts at the institute and not thinking anything about it at the time since she was looking for thoughts of tigers. Then she told him about the program she heard a piece of at the hospital.

She omitted any mention of Ferdinand and the door she had seen in his mind. It was one thing is she was able to partially see into the minds of insane vampires. That would make her little more than a novelty, but if she admitted to being able to see into the thoughts of perfectly normal vampires, even if it was something which came and went, like with Ferdinand, well that was another thing entirely. Even Eric's army of Britlingens might not be able to protect her from the fears that might stir up among others in vampire society.

"What if what that man on TV said was true for vampires too? What if I could somehow help them close the door on their mental problems? Wouldn't that be a fascinating thing to be able to do?" she said excitedly. "So I thought I'd go back to the Leanne Institute, after Mina's surgery and after I've taken Jason to the Were Council. I want to see her."

"No," Eric said firmly. "That would be much too dangerous."

"But Eric, if I can –"

"Absolutely not, Dearest, I forbid it."

When Sookie's eyes widened and she tried to stand, he tightened his embrace and softened his tone. "Sookie, my love, think about what you're saying. Think about where you're talking about going."

"I haven't thought about anything else for the last two hours!"

"Washoe County, Nevada is not our territory, Sookie. It was payment to King Leonas for his help in the takeover. I cannot protect you there."

"That's ridiculous. King Leonas is a friend. I'm sure he'd let you send whatever protection you thought I needed along with me. Besides, as his friend I'm sure no supes would dare harm me."

"And what if King Leonas himself were the one you should fear?"

"What makes you think he would hurt me?" she asked as a shiver made its way down her spine. "Has Ferdinand said something?"

"No, my love nothing like that, but what if what you suspect is true? Assume you were to go to see this woman and you were able to enter her mind and close this door. What do you suppose would happen if she were cured?"

"I suppose she'd be able to go back to her life, whatever it was before she ended up in the Institute. That would be a good thing, wouldn't it?"

"I have no way of knowing how good a thing it might be, not knowing her history. But even if it were a wonderful thing for her, what about the repercussions for you?"

Thinking she understood his concern now, Sookie smiled and squeezed his hand. "Don't worry, my darling knight, if she's another Gage Gordon I don't want anything to do with her. I have Oliver finding out about her now –"

"What?" Eric demanded. He shoved her onto his desk, ignoring the crash of his rolodex as it was knocked to the floor. He stood and snatched his cell phone from his inside jacket pocket. "Sookie, who else have you told about any of this?"

Sookie was afraid now. Eric wasn't prone to overreactions and he was obviously very concerned about something as he dialed a number into his phone. "I didn't tell anyone about my suspicions, only you," she said.

"Your interest in the vampire at the institute, my love, who knows?"

"Only Oliver and Ferdinand."

"Look out in the waiting area. See if Ferdinand is here yet. If he is, get him in here. Leave the Britlingens outside. Don't let him use his phone." Someone answered on the other end of his call. "Shut up and listen to me. The Queen asked you to make some inquiries on her behalf. How many calls have you made and to whom? – And did you speak to anyone? – The late hour works in our favor. What about messages? Did you leave information about why you were calling or simply ask for a return call? – Good. I want you to call back and speak to whomever you spoke to at the Institute. Tell them you were mistaken about your inquiry. Tell them you were merely meant to discover why a vampire was being held in a facility for shifters, not to gather information regarding the particular vampire. – When your other call is returned, simply tell them you are no longer in need of their assistance. Make no further calls on this matter."

Sookie had brought Ferdinand into the room as requested and now she was staring wildly at Eric and was almost in tears. "Eric, you're scaring me. Why are you acting like this is such a big deal?"

He cupped her face in one hand and smiled down at her. "In a moment, my love. Please sit while I speak to Ferdinand."

Sookie bit her lip and went to sit in Eric's chair alone while he got Ferdinand's assurance he had made no calls about the woman at the Institute and made him swear a blood oath he would never mention the woman or Sookie's interest in her to anyone. When that was done, Eric seemed to relax a bit before sending Ferdinand back out to the waiting area and rejoining Sookie.

"It is more important that ever for you to continue your self-defense lessons now, Sookie. I'd like for you to learn to handle a handgun as well." He motioned for her to remain seated and he sat on the edge of his desk.

"Eric, I don't understand. What's happening? Why are you acting this way?"

"Do you remember when we discussed the name of the Leanne Institute?"

"Yes, it's named for Leonas and Anne."

"Precisely. Its purpose is to try and discover a way for Anne to be cured. If a vampire patient is there, it is very likely one who displays the same sort of symptoms as Anne and she is being used to test experimental treatments."

"Oh my god, how horrible. Like a lab rat."

Eric chuckled. "You are horrified they would experiment on her mind, yet only moments ago you were suggesting you be allowed to do exactly that."

"Well, that's different! I only wanted, I mean I would have. I need to know if I can do what I think I might be able to do."

"If the purpose of the rat is the same, does it really matter who is running the lab?" When Sookie didn't respond, he continued. "And what if you satisfied your need to know? What if you cured her? This particular woman in this particular place? What do you suppose would happen next?"

Sookie looked back him, her eyes were filled with confusion at first but he could see the wheels turning as she thought it through. Her expression told him the moment it clicked it clicked for her and he watched as she realized what the step after would be, and the next.

"Why didn't I think of this before?" Her voice was barely audible. "If I was able to cure her, Leonas would know it before I even left the building. He would order me held."

"Yes, my love, he would. It would be the only prudent thing for him to do. If I were in his position, I would do the same."

"He would have me brought to him."

"I suspect he would come to take charge of you himself, but the result would be the same, you would be hidden and I would be forced to turn to his brother, King Vincentas."

"But he wouldn't help you because he'd need his army to make sure Leonas wasn't able to get me anywhere near Anna, because he loves her too. Just the way she is and he would be afraid she would choose Leonas if she was well again." The weight of what she was saying was crushing. How had something so seemingly simple and right spun so completely out of control so quickly?

"He might help," Eric said, "but not enough. He is a man of honor. Leonas is his brother. Vincentas might give me enough to keep Leonas engaged in a long drawn out war, but he would never supply me with sufficient men to defeat him and Leonas would never give you up if he thought you could cure Anna. Not unless he was utterly defeated. He would fight to the last man."

Sookie looked into Eric's ice blue eyes and felt a tear begin its slow descent down her cheek. Soon it would drip onto her dress and ruin it and she didn't care. "But you would come anyway. Even though you know you couldn't win, you'd come to fight, to die."

Eric opened a desk drawer and removed a box of tissue. He pressed several into her hand, keeping one for himself. With the one, he caught the first tear before it left her face and dabbed at her swollen eyes. "No battle is ever truly lost until it is over. One never knows what unexpected turns it might take. Yes, my beloved, I would come to fight, until the end of time, until his true death or mine. I would never forsake you, not to Leonas or any other man."

"When you talked to Oliver, it sounded like he said he spoke to someone. They wouldn't have any way of knowing why Oliver was calling. I didn't tell him. Do you suppose whoever that was will have any reason to say anything to Leonas?" She was barely keeping up with her tears now as she looked desperately into Eric's eyes for comfort.

Alas, he had little to offer, but he spoke with nothing but love in his voice and nothing accusing in his tone. "I doubt whoever Oliver spoke to has a direct line to Leonas' ear. However I suspect he will mention it to others. I feel certain he will mention the call to others and if not, at the very least it will make it into his shift report. No doubt someone in a position to forward information to Leonas will be made aware of it before too long. Regardless of what anyone else may or may not suspect, he will be fairly certain of the reason behind Oliver's calls."

"How could he be certain?"

"I would be," Eric responded flatly. "As far as he knows Oliver is still pledged to your service, which means he has no right to make such inquiries on his own behalf. He had to be calling for you. Now what possible interest could a vampire queen, who happens to be telepathic with humans, have in a mad vampire she has never spoken with, who isn't even a subject of her kingdom?

None, it would seem. Yet her servant is making inquiries. Why? Perhaps something in the mind of this insane vampire reached out to the mind of the telepath and managed to get through where other vampires could not. Of course I could not be certain beyond doubt, but it makes sense where nothing else does and the possibility is so tantalizing. I would be obliged to investigate."

"Maybe he's not as smart as you are." She was grasping at straws with that one and she knew it.

"Leonas suffers no intellectual infirmities, Dearest. His powers of logic and deduction are not lacking. He will be a formidable adversary. Fortunately, you chose to consult me before making a spontaneous trip to Nevada so he will have to bring the fight to us. We will have the advantage of being in our own territory."

"How long do you think we have before he finds out?"

"I expect him to know in less than a week. It will be perhaps a week more before he acts. He won't attack, Dearest, so don't fear an invading army. He'll ask first, try to enlist us to take his side."

Sookie gave up all pretense of trying to spare her dress. She allowed her tears to fall without restraint. "Eric, what have I done?"


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

.

"You acted from your heart, my love," Eric answered, maintaining constant eye contact to emphasize his sincerity. "It is part of your charm, though perhaps not always the most prudent course of action. In future you may want to consider the fact your heart no longer beats, which may have some influence on its effectiveness as a reliable guidepost."

Sookie leaned into him and put her head against his chest. "Eric?"

"Yes?"

"What about that woman? I know the door I saw came from her. It just had to. I think I can help her, Eric, I really do. I can feel it."

"My beautiful queen," he said, hugging her tight to his chest. "The stillness of her heart cannot cool its warmth. Leonas will come, and when he does we will discuss the woman and the possibility of helping her. I'm sure the conversation will be unavoidable.

In the mean time, our lives continue. Having seen to Mina, I'm sure you have other things to tend to, as do I." Eric stepped back and kissed her hand.

"About Mina," she said, holding onto his hand. "She's going to have surgery day after tomorrow to set her leg. Once it's set can she drink from Oliver to make it heal?"

"Her bone is in many pieces. Once the pieces are set and begin to knit properly, she can be fed small amounts of Oliver's blood to hasten the healing process. Once it is clear the bone is healing in the correct position, her feedings can be increased."

"The doctor said it would take her four to seven months to heal."

"But we know better. I would expect it to take little more than one month, if that.

One more thing before you go. You released Oliver, so I assume he was told to move out of our apartment. I think it will be better for him to stay now. If he offers to make another pledge to you, accept him. You live within a feudal society, Dearest, do not allow your aversion to the servitude of others override the need for reliable security in your home."

"Okay," she said with a pensive smile. Sookie left Eric's office and walked home with Ferdinand walking about two paces behind her.

She entered the donor suite alone after Ferdinand was assured by the Britlingens posted in the hall, no one but the donors were inside. When she was finished and about to dismiss Ferdinand for the evening, she paused at the penthouse door.

Her curiosity about the doors and what they meant and what if anything she could do about them was overwhelming. She may not have access to the female vampire at the Leanne Institute, but she had plenty of access to the only other place she could remember seeing an out of place door standing open in someone's head. She decided right there she would keep Ferdinand as close as possible to her so she could watch for the door.

"Ferdinand, why don't you come inside with me? Pandora should be here. You'll be working closely with her until Mina is well and it will probably be helpful for you to get to know the other members of my household."

"Thank you," Your Majesty.

"First lesson, I prefer for everyone to be much less formal with me at home. Sookie works for me. If that's too much for you to cope with, Mistress will do. If you really can't stand it and you have to be formal, the most I'll tolerate is Lady Northman. Ready?"

Ferdinand grinned and motioned to the door. "Lead the way, Sookie."

"Cool," she said as she opened the door and went into the apartment.

"I believe you met Karen earlier this evening, before we went to see Mina. Oh, and before I forget to give you warning, we'll be going out again shortly. I want to go to Dr. Ludwig's clinic to see Candia Gray's babies."

Ferdinand took a pen and pad from his jacket pocket and jotted something down. "Happy to see you again, Karen."

"Karen is my personal donor. No one else feeds from her." Sookie stopped at the bar and gestured into the kitchen. This is Genevieve, my cook and head of housekeeping and Heller is Eric's valet and all around helpful guy. Genevieve, Heller, this is Ferdinand, our new head of security."

Genevieve and Heller both smiled politely and nodded before Sookie continued. "The large snarling cat in the doorway there is my brother Jason. Of course you've met him. You can meet him properly tomorrow. I want to be the one to take him to the wolf council, so I assume you're going along as well."

"Is the king aware of your plans to go to a wolf pack meeting?" Ferdinand asked. It was apparent in his tone he did not approve.

"If part of your job description is to report everything I do to my husband, I'm afraid you'll have to do that on your own. I don't intend to help you with your spying duties by giving you a list of what I have and have not discussed with him. Maybe he'll let you install bugs if he agrees that you need to know about our private conversations," Sookie retaliated.

"Please forgive me, Lady Northman," he pleaded with a low bow. "I meant no disrespect, only to express my concern for your safety if you attend a werewolf pack meeting." He stood and bravely met her scowl.

Sookie took note of Ferdinand's return to formality and did not correct him. This was one thing she really liked about the upper social class behavior. An argument was so much more elegant, yet somehow more vicious when you had it formally. "No matter what you think, Mr. Rodriquez, you are a portable cage and I'm in charge of where we go. Now if you think you're not capable of doing your job and keeping me safe at a wolf pack meeting, you let me know and I'll ask Eric to escort me."

"I assure you, Lady Northman, you will be quite safe."

"I never doubted it for a minute," she smiled. "Were you aware I have Friend of the Pack status with the Shreveport wolf pack? Please don't insult them by surrounding me with an army tomorrow night.

Now, where were we? Oh yes, the shy girl near the windows is Shana. She's my personal attendant she helps with my hair and such. "Shana I'll need to change before I go out again. Would you mind going to grab me something and I'll be in there in just a minute. And lastly," Sookie said as she walked to the center of the room. "This lovely young creature with the purple streak through her hair is Pandora. She's normally a member of Pam's household."

Sookie looked directly back at Ferdinand. "That's Pam Ravenscroft, the Sheriff of Louisiana. Pandora has agreed to stay with us while Mina gets better. She'll be acting as my secretary."

Ferdinand and Pandora nodded to one another and Sookie went to her room to change. When she came out a few minutes later, she ignored Ferdinand completely and went over to Jason, plopping down and sitting cross-legged on the floor next to the big cat. And what an unattractive cat he was. He moved with all the stealth and grace you would expect from a cat his size but as good looking as Jason was in human form, he was in no danger of winning any feline beauty contests.

"Somebody play for us," Sookie called out to no one in particular.

"Will the guitar please you, Mistress? Or would you prefer piano?" Heller asked.

Sookie knew he preferred to play guitar. "Guitar will be very nice. Will you sing?"

Heller scoffed softly and Sookie thought she saw his cheeks darken just a bit. "For you, Mistress," he said with a nod before going over to grab a bar stool and carry it next to the piano. He then picked up an acoustic guitar and played a set of songs starting with covering Hey There Delilah by the Plain White T's as Ferdinand talked into his cell phone near the kitchen and Sookie sat with Jason stroking his coat and occasionally whispering in his ear.

Heller was singing a lovely cover of Rob Thomas' Cradlesong when Ferdinand came over to inform Sookie her car was waiting whenever she was ready.

"Very good, let's go," Sookie said, getting up and making a quick stop in the bathroom to wash her hands. When she came out Pandora was standing next to Ferdinand. Sookie motioned for Karen to join them and looked at Heller. "You sing like an angel, Heller. I could listen to you all night." He positively glowed under her praise.

When Ferdinand moved to get into a car along with the Britlingens, Sookie insisted he ride in the limo with her. "Oliver always rides with me, so I'm used to having my main security person in the car with me."

During the ride, Sookie ignored Ferdinand and he remained silent. Sookie spent the time chatting with Pandora about the people she would need to gather contact information for and a general idea of her scheduling. She would need to contact Devon about being available daily for Sookie's defense training.

"Find out if he knows anything about handguns. If so, we'll need to schedule some time at a practice range. If he doesn't, find someone who does and book me some time as soon as possible.

Make sure Mina has fresh flowers in her room every day and get her a laptop up there and an assortment of her favorite movies and CD's. Find out if she wants books or crossword puzzles or anything. Oliver made a list earlier. He'll probably see to the things on the list, but check with him and be sure.

Send three nice ivies to Candia Gray at the clinic and get something nice for the two babies, they're girls."

By the time they reached the clinic Pandora had three pages of notes written in her very legible hand with a green pen on her pink legal pad. Sookie asked Pandora and Karen to wait in the car. "I won't be long," she assured them. She was followed into the clinic by Ferdinand and two Britlingens.

The dimmed hallway leading to Candia's room was peacefully quiet this evening. If there were emergencies in progress or foul movements afoot, there was no evidence of it in the low hum of the overhead lighting or the occasional hushed words coming from the patient rooms. When Sookie arrived at Candia's room she knocked softly and waited. There were four people inside, Candia, her children and her father.

"No trouble," Sookie whispered to Ferdinand. He nodded his acknowledgment just as Rafe opened the door.

"Mr. Gray," Sookie said with a smile. "I've come to call on your daughter and her children. I've been told they're all doing well."

"They are all doing very well, thanks to you, Lady Northman. Please come in." Rafe looked suspiciously at Ferdinand as he held the door open for Sookie.

"This is my bodyguard, Mr. Rodriguez. I'm sure you understand that he has to come in with me. If he makes you uncomfortable, he'll stay by the door, but he must come inside."

Rafe pushed the door open wider. Ferdinand caught it and followed Sookie into the room, closing it behind him.

"I'm glad to have this opportunity to express my family's gratitude for all you've done for us, Lady Northman. For Candia."

"Thank you, Mr. Gray," Sookie said quietly. Candia and the babies were all sleeping. Rafe Gray should have come out into the hall rather than lead her and Ferdinand in here. "I'll tell Eric you're grateful. He was the one who arranged for her to have proper protection."

"I appreciate him going to the trouble."

Sookie snorted. "I doubt it was any trouble at all. It's something he's particularly good at. I should go before I wake them. I'll come by another time and try to catch them awake."

"Wait, please don't go."

Sookie looked over to see Candia pushing herself up in bed and smiling at her. "Two girls, just like you said. Alcide said you'd be right," Candia said brightly.

"Alcide has been keeping an eye on you? That's good. He's a good man," Sookie said, happily returning her smile.

"Alcide has been very nice. He comes every day. He even helped me name the girls."

"Did he? What are their names?" Sookie took a step closer.

"Come and look at them." Candia beckoned for Sookie to come next to her bed and look into the two incubators beside her. "Susi came first. She's the oldest by 6 minutes." Candia placed a hand on the first incubator. A card with the name Susi Gray was taped to the glass at the tiny child's feet.

"She's beautiful," Sookie said as she beamed at the baby.

Candia moved her hand to the second incubator. A towel had been left draped over the end, obscuring the child's first name. "I wanted to name this one Sookie, after you, but some people thought it might make things hard for her if she was named after a vampire."

Sookie could see that "some people" was mostly Rafe, but in this case he was more than likely right. "It's alright, I understand."

Candia glanced to her father, who remained in his uncomfortable stance at the foot of the bed before continuing to chat with Sookie. "So I talked to Alcide about it since he knows you."

Sookie saw what Candia was going to say before she said it. Sookie reached for the towel and pulled it away from the card taped to the glass.

"He said I should name her Adele. He said you'd like that."

Sookie took Candia's hand and squeezed. "I like it very much, Candia. Thank you. You go back to sleep now. You need your rest to help you keep up with these two. I'll come back and check on you in a few days."

Sookie patted Adele's incubator, smiled and left. She was actually humming to herself when she got back into the limo. She had always enjoyed being around babies and despite all the trouble Candia had caused, her babies were no exception. And Alcide had told her to name one of them Adele! How great was that?

She excitedly told Pandora and Karen everything she knew about Susi and Adele. "Pandora, when you're out getting gifts for them, go to Mr. Schwartzman and have him make gold anklets with their names for them. I think that will be cute."

Pulling out her cell and calling Oliver she found he was still at the hospital but he said he would be leaving soon. Sookie offered to come pick him up and he accepted. Rather than buzz the driver herself, she flipped her phone closed and looked at Ferdinand. "Tell the driver to go to the orthopedic building at Shreve General, main door I think. We'll be picking up Oliver." She was poking around trying to find the trigger to opening his door.

They arrived at the entrance before Oliver. The driver opened the glass separating him from the passengers and asked for instructions. Sookie answered.

"Just pull up a little and we'll wait here unless someone comes and asks us to move. If that happens then just circle the parking lot until you see him."

Sookie turned on the radio and asked Pandora, who was sitting next to her, to switch seats with Karen, who was sitting across from Sookie. Pandora was now sitting next to Ferdinand and when Sookie had Karen scoot closer, Pandora engaged Ferdinand in conversation.

"I have quite a list of contacts I need to program into my phone," Pandora began as Sookie raised Karen's wrist to her lips and closed her eyes. "Since you're even newer to court than me, you probably have a list of people you don't have numbers for yet either. I thought maybe we could compare notes. I may have some you need and the other way round."

"Of course, Miss?"

"Just Pandora. My Mistress doesn't like us using our old names."

"I see. Many of the California vampires are like that too. I have no pets, so I'm not aware of why it would be an advantage to change someone's name."

"My Mistress says it's to remind us we have left our old life and all its pains behind with our old names. As long as we have our new names we have a new life with her love and protection. You should find a pet, Mr. Rodriguez, to take care of things for you in the daytime and keep you from being lonely at night."

Sookie's eyes remained closed, but her fangs retracted when she saw the door in Ferdinand's head open just a crack. She licked the two wounds on Karen's wrist just as Oliver opened the car door opposite her. Sookie jumped, Karen squealed and the door in Ferdinand's head slammed shut.

"My apologies, Mistress," Oliver said as he slid into the seat next to Karen and across from Ferdinand.

Sookie plastered on a smile and answered. "It's alright, Oliver. How is Mina?"

"She is sleeping. I believe she is resting easier since the nurses arrived. She doesn't have to wear herself out waiting for someone to help her. I had been trying to help her before but I don't really know what I'm doing and I think I unintentionally caused her pain. I am grateful to see her being assisted by hands more skilled than mine."

"Good, I'm glad they're able to help. Anything we can do to make her more comfortable before she can be given blood is good," Sookie said.

The limo pulled up in front of Valhalla and Sookie was disappointed to realize she couldn't feel Eric. He must still be at his office. "We're walking to the Asgard," she said to Ferdinand. "Oliver, can I talk to you a minute first?"

She pulled Oliver aside and told him Eric had changed his mind about having him move out of the penthouse. "I'm sure he doesn't want you to make an issue of it, so please don't. If you must say anything to him, please do it when no one else is there to see or hear it."

"As you wish, Mistress. I am grateful to know I will not be separated from Mina."

"She never needs to know it was ever a possibility, Oliver. She has enough to worry about. Go on upstairs. I'll be home shortly."

Oliver looked at Ferdinand. "I'll take care of her," Ferdinand assured him.

When she arrived at Eric's office, Sookie raised her hand to knock. As she did, the door opened causing her to jump for the second time in the last half hour. Everything going on had her much too jittery. She needed to get a grip on herself. Alcide was on the other side of the door and he was as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

"Oh, uh, sorry to startle you, Sookie, I mean La-"

"Sookie is fine," she said with a grin. "I was wondering who was keeping my husband from me so long tonight." Her smile widened as she cast a glance to Eric.

Alcide smiled and offered her an exaggerated bow. "Again I must apologize, but in my defense, he called me."

"I guess that's why I didn't see you at the clinic," Sookie said. "Candia and the babies are looking very well. Candia certainly enjoys talking about you."

"Candia is very young. She's easily impressed," Alcide replied. "Dr. Ludwig seems to be really pleased with the twin's progress. She wants to keep them at least two weeks, but they're both breathing on their own and they have huge appetites, so they'll be staying at the clinic mostly as a precautionary thing. As well as to give Candia time to learn to take care of them herself."

"I'm sure her mother will be a lot of help to her when she goes home," Sookie said.

"If that's where she goes when she leaves the clinic."

"Alcide, do you plan to take her as mate?"

"I'm considering it. There are a lot of worse choices I could make and like you said, she and the twins will need to be protected since Candia will be able to produce another pure. You were also right about the twins being important to the future of the pack."

"I hope your good influence will calm her down and make her happy. I hope she'll make you happy too." Sookie smiled sincerely. Had Eric not been watching their conversation quite so closely, she might have indulged her urge to give him a hug. She settled for just the smile.

"You crush me, Dearest!" Eric practically shouted from behind his desk. Sookie and Alcide both turned their attention to him as he raised his arms with a great flourish and brought one hand to rest over his heart. "You arrive protesting the deprivation of my company, yet still you linger in the doorway with another. How is my vanity to survive such a blow?"

Sookie and Alcide were both laughing at Eric's theatrics when Sookie finally stepped fully into the office and said, "Somehow I think your vanity will manage."

"I'll be heading out then. It was good to see you Sookie." Alcide nodded in Eric's direction. "Thanks again for the help. Calvin is a reasonable man and that will be a more than fair offer. I imagine he'll take it."

"He would be foolish not to," Eric said, reverting back to his business tone. "This arrangement fully settles all restitution obligations, no matter how he chooses to look at it, as well as offering a method of easing his inbreeding problem. I have every confidence he will accept when you present it to him tomorrow night."

Alcide nodded again and left. Sookie went to Eric's side as he neatly stacked the papers and notes he'd had spread across his desk.

"What were you two talking about?" Sookie asked.

"Oddly enough, the plight of panthers in Bolivia," Eric answered, selecting three sheets of scribbled notes and stapling them together.

"The what?"

"There is a village quite similar to Hot Shot, called Rio del Cielo, near Trinidad, Bolivia at the edge of the Amazon Basin. It seems there is a rather high demand on the South American black market for jaguar pelts, teeth and claws, as well as live animals. Poachers and hunters have made life difficult for the shifters there, particularly for the males, who tend to be more aggressive and directly challenge the hunters more often. Also because the males are more sought after due to their size. Their larger pelts, teeth and claws make them more desirable."

"They're being killed for nothing, because when they're injured they'd shift back, so the poachers would get nothing they could use," Sookie said sadly.

"The hunters may not get their prize, but the shifter is left no less dead. So the impact on their community is the same. The price they pay for the camouflage of living in an area heavily populated by natural jaguars is to share the price on their heads."

Sookie silently considered what Eric was saying for a moment before he continued. "So you see, this leaves the Bolivian jaguar village of Rio del Cielo with the exact opposite problem which plagues our own jaguar community of Hot Shot. Hot Shot has too few females. Rio del Cielo has too many."

"So you're going to suggest a trade? Men from Hot Shot for women from Rio del Cielo?" Sookie asked, not certain she really wanted to hear the answer. She looked down and her eye was drawn to a note on the top sheet of paper Eric had just stapled. Three female names were listed there and circled.

"No dearest, not a trade. When Jason is returned to Calvin Norris tomorrow night, Calvin will demand restitution for the injury to his pack. Normally this would simply be an exchange of money and the life of the guilty party.

However in this case, the guilty party is a female with young and the wolf pack would like to keep her."

"Because she's a breeder," Sookie said as she felt a sickly feeling wash over her. Thankfully she wasn't human or she might be throwing up in Eric's lap right about now.

"Yes, and more than that, she survives this incident with two female young. So it could be said the wolves gain a net benefit from the incident of three females."

Sookie looked back at the circled list. "So you're buying three female jaguar shifters to give to Calvin to make things even?"

"In a manner of speaking. Bolivia and her citizens are very poor and yes, if Calvin agrees to the terms, a fee will be paid to the pack leader in Rio del Cielo for each of the females. Half paid upon finalization of the agreement and half after the girls have been in Hot Shot for three months and decided to stay."

"So they have a choice?" Sookie asked, her worry clear in her tone.

Eric took her hand in both of his. "Of course, my love. I am not a slave trader. If you'd like, we can incorporate a clause requiring the girls to be interviewed by you before final payment is made, so you can be certain they are acting of their own accord and without coercion."

"Thank you," she said softly as the index finger of her free hand traced the circle around the three names on the paper. "So, are these the girls? What do you know about them?"

"Elisa Guaman Valparaiso, Carmen Alemana Cervantes and Marta Montana Dehaza are seventeen, nineteen and twenty-two respectively. Two are virgins. I do not know which two. None have given birth or been with child. They are all in good health and speak at least some English. One is fluent, again, I do not know which."

"Sounds like they'll be the belles of the ball down in Hot Shot. I wonder which one Calvin will pick for himself?"

Eric grinned from ear to ear. "He will take the one who shifts to a black, of course. He will not leave such a coveted genetic trait to the other males. He will want her mated with the alpha male in Hot Shot."

"Let me guess," Sookie snarked, "you do know which one that is?"

"I am nothing if not well researched, my love. By this time next week, I expect Senorita Marta Montana Dehaza to have all Hot Shot has to offer laid at her feet."

"Don't be so sure she'll be impressed. I had Hot Shot laid at my feet once and I didn't have any trouble walking away from it."

"Ah, but you knew you were meant for better things. You felt it. You were destined to be the consort of a king. This girl was raised in a poverty stricken country by a poor family, she could be impressed with a shed behind your grandmother's house in Bon Temps and a washing machine to do her laundry. She will not want to leave Hot Shot."

"Well good, maybe Hot Shot will be a happier place."

"You can't make everyone happy, Sookie. It is not possible."

"Can I make you happy?" she asked, leaning in to kiss him.

"Yes, beauty, you can and you do," he said with a gorgeous smile.

"When I'm not busy causing wars," she said, rolling her eyes.

Eric chuckled and pulled her close. "I have known no greater honor or pride in battle than having fought on your behalf, my love."

"Well, let's try not to have you doing that too often. I don't like the risk. There are other things I'd much rather have occupying your time. For instance, right now I'd like for you to come home and sit with me and look out at the night while Heller plays guitar."

"How can I refuse such an offer?"

Eric got up and as they left the office he dismissed Ferdinand and the Britlingens for the night.

When they got home, Sookie's plan was momentarily sidetracked because Heller was taking a shower, but Karen volunteered to play piano for a few minutes until he came out.

Eric pulled the big overstuffed chair close to the window and Sookie curled up in his lap and stared out the windows as Karen played.

Since Karen was playing things she knew and not using sheet music, Genevieve dimmed the lights and she, Shana and Pandora all took seats to listen.

"Does it get any better than this, my darling?" Sookie whispered.

"Not in this room," he replied with a laugh.

"Oh, you're awful."

"You are not the first to make that observation, Dearest."

Sookie laughed and gave up. She'd never win a war of words with him, not when he was in as pleasant a mood as he appeared to be in tonight.

Heller walked in and was stopped in his tracks by all eyes turning to him.

"The man himself," Eric exclaimed thunderously, sweeping his arm wide in Heller's direction. "Heller, my lady is anxious to hear you play guitar for her. There is to be no peace in the household if you refuse her."

"Eric! Heller, I would love to hear you play, but if you'd rather not, I certainly won't force you."

Heller blushed and ran his hands through his still damp hair. "I would be honored to play for you, Mistress." He said and walked over to the guitar rack. "Is there something special you'd like to hear?"

"Something fast," she said enthusiastically. Her smile broadened and she repositioned herself so she could watch Heller as he played.

Eric watched her watching Heller with great interest. "What will you play?"

"Do you have a suggestion, Master?" Heller asked with a nod.

"Do you know Classical Gas?"

A huge smile crept across Heller's face, as much from relief as pride. "I do, my lord."

"Excellent, play that," Eric said as he stood with Sookie in his arms and placed her back in the chair. "If you will excuse me, my love, I will accompany your favored musician."

The room fell silent as Eric extended his hand to Karen and guided her from the piano to a sofa and he took a seat at the piano. "Three times through beginning with an increasing tempo?"

"Yes, my lord."

Heller looked like he'd just found out he'd won the lottery, a command performance for his queen and accompanied by the king himself.

Sookie was enraptured. As the music swelled faster and louder around her, she was carried away. Her vision of the perfect moment in time had changed again.


	20. Chapter 20

_**Chapter 20**_

.

"Can't we just stay right here all night?" Sookie asked as she pulled Eric's arms closer around her. "We could lay here and you could hold me."

"And we could have more sex."

"Exactly and then you could hold me some more and everyone on the other side of our door could just go to hell."

"Perhaps not everyone," he said, cupping her breast and leaning over to lightly suck at her earlobe. "I believe we will both require donors before the night ends. Unless you've made other arrangements."

Sookie closed her eyes and huffed. "It's awfully unchivalrous of you to bring up reality right in the middle of a perfectly nice daydream."

"Do you dream of me, my love?" he whispered as she turned her body to face his and weaved her arms upward until she could reach his hair.

"Always." Her mouth found his lips and for the moment all conversation ceased.

Eric rolled onto his back and Sookie settled in on top of him, their passions rising again as neither was yet prepared to release the other to the demands of the world outside their bedroom. The Earth would have to manage to spin without them for a while longer this night.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Jason and Heller were playing a video game on the big screen and Genevieve was watching with as much enthusiasm as a player, but the favoritism of a groupie. She celebrated with gusto every time Heller won a round and consoled him with kisses on the rare occasions he lost. Jason flirted shamelessly with Karen and Shana, trying unsuccessfully to woo them into becoming his cheering section.

"Do they not normally rise at sundown?" Ferdinand asked. He had been seated at the bar for the better part of an hour. He felt awkward just sitting there but since he'd accepted Pandora's offer to come inside and wait it was too late to do anything else.

"I don't normally live here," Pandora answered as she took a small handful of red grapes from a tray on the bar. "So I really don't know the rising habits of the master and mistress, but if I did I don't think it would be proper for me to be discussing any specifics I might know.

In general, I'm sure they're awake; I'm sure they're aware of everything they have to do tonight; and I'm sure they'll come out in time to get it all done. It's really not my job or my business to worry about what they do with their private time."

She cast a discreet glance around the room with her gaze landing back on Ferdinand. We have readied our home for their convenience. We have made all the daylight preparations possible for any time they spend here to be as accommodating and pleasant as possible. We have performed all the daylight tasks asked of us as well as any we could think of which might be helpful or pleasing to them. This time is ours. They don't exist now until they choose to come out."

"That seems like an odd way to live," Ferdinand said as he nervously picked at the label on his empty bottle of True Blood.

Pandora offered him a charming smile and reached for the empty bottle. "May I get you another?"

"Thank you, yes," he said, pushing the empty into her hand.

She took the bottle, rinsed it and dropped it into a recycling bin, then got a fresh bottle from the fridge and put it in the microwave. "Did you envision us all sitting in a semi-circle around their bedroom door desperately waiting for them to come out?"

"I've seen nests where that would be a pretty accurate description."

"How sad," she replied. "I haven't. Of course, I haven't seen many nests. Everyone at my home and everyone here knows they're loved and valued. Yes, there is waiting, but we wait with happy anticipation. We're not driven to desperate pleas for attention by neglect or mistreatment."

Pandora removed the bottle from the microwave and placed it on a coaster on the bar in front of him. "Would you care for a glass?"

"The bottle is fine."

Oliver came out of his room carrying a large bag and headed toward the front door, but stopped when he saw Ferdinand and took a step toward the kitchen.

"Ferdinand," Oliver said with a polite nod.

Ferdinand returned the nod and said, "Oliver, perhaps you could satisfy my curiosity on something. You are accustomed to the queen's schedule. How long after sunset does she normally get going? I'm trying to figure out when to be available to her."

"As Her Majesty's head of security, you should be available to her from sundown to sunrise unless instructed otherwise by the king. At some point after sunset the king will give her into your care. From that point until he reclaims her from you, she is your responsibility. Her schedule is her own. If you'll excuse me, I have errands to tend to."

Oliver turned to Pandora and said, "Would you inform the mistress I'm sorry to have missed her and I look forward to seeing her later tonight at the hospital."

"I'll tell her," Pandora assured him with a nod. Oliver cast one more glance at Ferdinand and left.

"Have you ever been to a wolf pack meeting?" Pandora asked Ferdinand, taking a few more grapes from the pile on the tray.

"No, I haven't." He returned her smile. She was an amiable girl and he was grateful for the conversation, it distracted him from thinking of how awkward he felt in this unfamiliar place and from wondering what was happening beyond the door with the keypad lock. "I understand the king keeps a working relationship with the local wolves and most other supes in his area."

"When there's trouble it's usually caused by outsiders. Things like the current trouble for Jason and a couple years ago when Heller was attacked."

"Is that what happened to his face?"

"Yes."

The bedroom door opened and all previous conversation in the room stopped.

"I do not believe that will be necessary, my love." Eric was standing in the doorway, looking over his shoulder into the bedroom.

Sookie's voice wafted out. "But you think it would work?"

"Yes, it would work. Whatever you decide to do, call me when the meeting is over." He walked into the main living area and looked around at the bowed heads. All but Jason's, but Jason would likely be going back to Bon Temps tonight.

"Good evening, everyone," he said, the words cascading from his lips as if they were gifts for anyone within hearing and they were received as such.

"Good evening, my lord," Heller said. "May we serve you this evening?"

"I am well, Heller. My lady's attendants may go to her."

Karen, Shana and Pandora were all headed toward the bedroom door when Eric did something unexpected.

"Wait," he said and he looked at Shana. She looked like she might have a stroke any second. She was clearly terrified. He chuckled and gave her his most charming grin as he scrutinized her with his eyes.

Her knees were going to buckle. She knew it. She was going to collapse in the middle of the floor and he hadn't so much as spoken directly to her. "Y-yes, Your Majesty?" she managed to sputter.

"Shana, you appear to have lost weight." He turned to Pandora. "Take her shopping. Get her some properly fitting things."

"Yes, my lord," Pandora said as she bowed her head.

Eric walked over and put his hand on the bar beside Ferdinand, who had stood and bowed his head.

"Ferdinand."

"Yes, my lord?" Ferdinand looked up and into Eric's ice blue eyes.

"I am entrusting you with that which is more precious to me than my own life. Care for her well."

"With my life, my lord."

When Eric had left, Pandora joined the other women in Sookie's dressing room. Karen was sitting in the corner nearest the dressing table filing her nails and Shana was next to the numerous shelves of hair accessories so as soon as Sookie selected what she'd be wearing, a suitable choice for her hair could be made.

Sookie walked the length of the fifteen foot aisle of clothes; a single bar down one side for dresses and full length coats, high and low bars on the opposing side for blouses, skirts, slacks and other short garments.

"Having a hard time choosing?" Pandora asked from the closet door.

"What says sacrificial lamb?" Sookie asked as she slowly paced the aisle.

Pandora stepped into the closet and began considering the many options. "When most people think of lambs they think of white fluffy wool, but white is also virginal and pure on a person."

"No," Sookie said with a scoff. "I'm not sacrificing a virgin."

"Sacrifice," Pandora murmured as her hand came to rest on a pale pink floor length dress. "The torn pink flesh of the lamb, it's blood dripping onto the ground." Pandora lifted the hanger and held the dress up for Sookie to see.

Pale pink, scooped neckline; short flounced sleeves and most importantly the skirt. It flared just a bit from the hips, split up the front to just above the knee and had a small train, which would drag six inches or so as she walked. The dress was solid colored to the hips where a random pattern of bright red teardrop shaped spots began and continued to the floor.

"Perfect," Sookie agreed. "No jewels, plain gold clips or combs."

"Yes, Mistress," Shana replied.

In less than an hour Sookie, Pandora, Jason and Ferdinand were in a limo headed across town.

"You talked to Calvin today, right? He told you what to expect tonight?" Sookie asked Jason.

"Yeah, we're gonna march in there and show those the proof and make them pay through the nose."

"There won't be any marching. at least not from anyone in this car. If there's any trouble it will not be started by us," Sookie said in the indulgent tone one uses to correct a spoiled child.

"Maybe not, but we'll finish it," Jason said, grinning ear to ear.

"Wrong," Sookie corrected. "We won't start any trouble. We won't end any trouble. We absolutely will not participate in any trouble of any kind. With a little luck this will all go smoothly and it won't take long and everyone will leave happy."

Jason put his hands behind his head and laughed. "I wouldn't count on Calvin leaving happy. He's madder than a pissed on hornet. He's not leaving tonight with less than half a million."

"You'd be surprised how many ways there are to make an angry person happy," she said.

They drove the remaining five minutes in silence. The limo came to a smooth stop and Sookie held her arm out between Jason and the door to keep him from lumbering out in front of her. Ferdinand reached for him but Sookie quickly shook her head and Ferdinand retracted his hand.

"Sit down," Sookie hissed at Jason.

Jason threw both hands up in front of him with his fingers spread wide. "Fine," he snapped back. "Whatever you say, Your Royal Pain In The Ass."

Pandora bowed her head as if doing so would somehow extract her from the embarrassment of the situation. Ferdinand looked as though he wanted to rip Jason's throat out. Sookie took a deliberate deep breath. Forcing her lungs to fill with air and she closed her eyes as she slowly exhaled.

"Jason," she said finally. She could hear the two Britlingens getting out of the car behind them. "They will be watching us. Let's at least try and pretend we're taking this seriously and not act like we're heading to a tailgate party. This is a big deal. This is court, just as sure as if we were going in front of a judge at City Hall.

Jason, I need you to think really hard, right now, about what it's going to take for you not to talk. If you have to bit your tongue or chew on the insides of your cheeks or if we need to tape your mouth closed before we go in. Whatever it takes, I don't care, but I need you to understand that once we're inside you need to say nothing."

"But I,"

"Nothing," she repeated. "Not one word unless Calvin or I tell you otherwise. No matter what you hear. No matter what anyone says or does. Unless you're the first one to see the building has caught fire, say nothing. Do you understand?"

"I'm not an idiot, Sook."

The chauffer opened Sookie's door causing Pandora and Ferdinand to exit on their side. Sookie didn't respond to Jason and she didn't move her gaze from him either.

"Yeah," he finally said. "Yes, I understand. Damn"

"Good." Sookie took the chauffer's hand and stepped out of the car.

Pandora and Ferdinand fell into step behind Sookie as they entered the building. Jason, with the two Britlingens bringing up the rear, followed them.

Sookie knocked twice on the office door and waited for it to be opened from the inside. The loud chorus of voices quieted to hushed whispers as she walked serenely across the back of the room and up the center aisle. She could see most of them were angry and the fact their anger was for the most part, rightly directed at Candia didn't help matters. Their anger needed a place to go, it needed someone to be released on and they all knew perfectly well they couldn't release it on a sixteen-year-old girl who had only just delivered two very premature babies.

They needed a sacrificial lamb.

Calvin Norris and two men from Hot Shot were standing at the front across from Alcide. They stepped aside to Sookie's right as she approached.

"Good evening, Mr. Herveaux," she said, her voice clear and crisp so everyone could hear her without difficulty. With a nod and a smile toward Calvin, she added, "Mr. Norris."

Calvin returned her nod and Alcide said, "As a friend of the pack you are always welcome here, Lady Northman."

Facing Alcide she began to speak. "Thank you for receiving me. The first purpose of my visit is to confess my involvement in the tensions between you and Mr. Norris."

Jason sucked in a breath and in a movement, which looked completely natural to the few who noticed, Pandora took a step backward so she was beside him. At the same time she put her hand over his and squeezed. He looked at her as if she'd gone mad, but her eyes were straight ahead and her face as placid as if she were watching a particularly boring weather report. She did not let go of his hand.

Sookie went on. "When I first heard my brother was accused of assaulting a female member of the pack I was shocked and when I thought about it, I was convinced he was innocent. I asked a friend to take him from his home against his will and not tell me where they had taken him. I did this without consulting Mr. Norris and without his knowledge.

Until now I have denied knowing anything about his disappearance to you, Mr. Norris," she paused and swallowed hard for dramatic effect before continuing, "and others."

Her subtle theatrics worked beautifully. The crowd assumed the others had to be Eric and they were all imagining what kind of punishments he might have meted out to her for concealing such information from him. And then to top it off by making her come here and confess openly. They were enjoying their thoughts a little too much for her comfort and the obvious disquiet she felt only added to their pleasure.

She straightened her spine and allowed her lower lip the tiniest of quivers. If it was a show they wanted, she might as well give them a good one.

"Tonight I'm here to return my brother, Jason Stackhouse, to Mr. Norris. I am trusting you to accept the overwhelming evidence which has been provided to you as proof of his innocence."

"Wha," Jason started and Pandora squeezed his hand again.

Sookie turned and extended her hand. "Jason."

Jason couldn't have looked more confused or out of place if he'd been wearing a straight jacket.

For the briefest of seconds Sookie saw the door in Ferdinand's head crack open. Her attention was drawn to him. He visibly shook himself as if to regain his train of thought and the door closed. Damn, she thought. If only that would happen when she didn't have to concentrate on something else.

Jason was handed off to Calvin with a final reminder squeeze from Pandora. Calvin instructed Jason to have a seat in a folding chair near him and Jason obediently sat, his befuddled expression unchanged.

"Now that I have returned my brother, I stand before you prepared to hear and accept your judgment and penalty for my deception."

The collective gasp in the room was deafening and the shocked imaginings going on in their heads seemed even louder. For vampires to willingly subject themselves to Were justice was unheard of. For a vampire queen to offer herself simply wasn't possible. Yet here she stood.

Eric had always gone out of his way to maintain a tenable working relationship with the pack. This was clear proof of his commitment. Sookie had a difficult time keeping from smiling as she heard their feelings shifting from delight in taking their anger out on her to growing respect for Eric. Despite his well-known devotion to his wife, he obviously would not allow even her to endanger his relationship with the pack.

'Laying it on a little thick aren't you?' came a random thought. Sookie met Alcide's gaze. He was having as much trouble as she was trying to keep a serious tone. She was pushing the bounds of believability with the little game she was playing.

Alcide looked to Calvin and back to Sookie. "We understand and respect your motivation in wanting to support and protect your kin from harm and we appreciate your belated honesty, Lady Northman. As you may be aware, your husband and I reached a mutually acceptable settlement to compensate the pack for your slight. Any further settlement between you and Mr. Norris can be dealt with away from here."

Sookie and her entourage stepped aside for the negotiation between Alcide and Calvin to begin. Her opening act production before the main event had exactly the intended effect on the crowd. The majority of those in attendance had enjoyed the sight of the vampire queen humbling herself before their pack leader.

She had successfully satisfied most of their desire to see punishment, leaving them felling less hostile toward Calvin. The general feeling in the room had simmered down and from what Sookie could read, most were hoping Alcide would be able to strike a reasonable bargain with Calvin and the messy situation would be over without any more fighting.

Calvin took in his surroundings with a sweeping glance around the room. If he was intimidated in the least, he didn't show it. He stood with such ease and dignity he could have been standing on his own front porch greeting neighbors as they passed.

"You've heard the accusation against Jason and you've seen the evidence of his innocence. Do you agree he is not guilty?"

Alcide didn't flinch from Calvin's stare as he replied, "We have seen the evidence and we have heard the accuser recant her accusation. Under these circumstances we have no choice but to agree Jason Stackhouse was falsely accused. We are prepared to offer a public apology from the accuser as well as a ten thousand dollar fine as reparations for the false accusation. If you agree this would be fair."

Here we go, Sookie thought.

"I do not," Calvin stated. "Your offer would be plenty fair if the only issue was the accusation, but that's only the tip of the iceberg."

Calvin spent the next ten minutes running through a laundry list of every tiny inconvenience suffered by anyone in Hot Shot over the last couple of weeks. Anything that could be linked to Jason or Candia by even the flimsiest thread was thrown into the mix. When he reached the point where it almost seemed he was going to start blaming the weather on the tense situation, he finally got around to making the point Eric had said would be the centerpiece of his position.

"Even all these many slights and indignities could be forgiven if you were not gaining a profit from the original cause of the problem.

You are fortunate, Mr. Herveaux, in that you have the honor and responsibility of leading a healthy and self-sustaining pack. I am not so fortunate. I inherited a pack heavily weakened by lack of diversity.

When this unpleasantness is behind us, my people will be left with only memories of humiliation and suspicion. Yet your people are left with not only the guilty accuser, herself a young healthy female, but in addition you have her offspring, two additional females, who will no doubt grow up to increase the ranks of your pack. What price do we put on such an advantageous profit?"

Calvin relaxed his stance and looked around the room again, as if asking if anyone could possibly answer such a difficult question. No one offered.

If Sookie hadn't already known the answer, she was sure she would have been just as confounded as everyone else here. Clearly there was no way out of this impossible situation. If there were any in the pack who doubted Alcide's leadership or intelligence, they were about to be wowed right along with everyone else.

Ten minutes from now Jason would be free, Alcide would be the most brilliant man alive and Calvin would be the luckiest. Everybody would be a winner. Well, everybody but Sookie. They all thought she had been forced by her adoring husband to humble herself. She had discussed her plans with him of course. He told her it would work, but she knew he would have never have asked her to do anything to cause herself any public embarrassment, no matter the circumstances. Never.

Alcide looked into his hands for a moment and then folded them on the desk in front of him. "Mr. Norris, you present a compelling argument for the hardships suffered by your people during our recent troubles. In all honesty I was not aware your difficulties had been so severe. In light of that and to also give consideration to the fact that we do enjoy the advantages of fertility in our pack, I believe I can offer you something you may find more appropriate compensation for your losses and disadvantages.

There is a jaguar community in the small town of Rio del Cielo, Bolivia."

Alcide went on to go through all the information about the three girls Eric had told Sookie about last night and just as expected Calvin's entire demeanor changed when Alcide mentioned the oldest, Marta, shifted to a black panther.

"We haven't had a black in Hot Shot for four generations," Calvin marveled.

It was clear from his tone he found the prospect of having one now to be very exciting. His stoic posture relaxed and when he turned to look at the two men who had accompanied him, Sookie could see he was smiling.

"What do you think of that?" he asked the men before looking back to Alcide. "You're paying all the costs of getting then here."

"Of course," Alcide agreed.

"And how soon will that happen? We don't want to wait around for long, but we'll need a little time to see they have a proper place to stay."

"Is one week sufficient for you?"

"On week would be peachy. You can toss in that ten thousand and we'll do without the apology."

When Alcide did not answer immediately the room, with the exception of the vampires, held their collective breath as his eyes swept across the crowded space searching for objections. When he found none, his gaze fell for a second on Sookie, only long enough to see her approving smile, before settling back on Calvin. "Done." He said in a strong voice.

"Done," Calvin echoed.

The room erupted in applause and howls then just as quickly began to empty of onlookers.

"Jason!" Sookie cried, going to him and wrapping him in a huge hug. "I'm so glad it's over."

"What the hell just happened, Sook?" Jason asked as he returned her hug.

"Everything got cleared up and you're fine and no one is going to war. It was the best possible thing."

"Well I have some questions," Jason started pulling out of the hug.

"Not now. Wait until the ride home," Sookie said. She was much too busy being happy to ruin it with questions she may not be able to answer considering all of their present company.

Just then Calvin spun around. His smile was so broad it just about sliced his face in two. "Speaking of the ride home, Jason, you planning on staying up here with your sister or would you like to ride home with me and the boys?"

"Yeah, uh, that'd be great, Calvin. If Sookie doesn't mind."

"You go right ahead, Jason. On the way I'm sure Calvin can answer any of those questions you have." Sookie gave Calvin a sparkling smile and said, "May I assume an equal fine from me will be enough?"

"That would be fair enough, I believe."

"Thank you," Sookie said sweetly. "Pandora." Sookie turned to her right and Pandora already had a hand inside the purse she was carrying. She brought out two straps of fifty-dollar bills and handed them to Sookie, who in turn handed them to Calvin.

"There," Sookie said. "Now we're all friends again."

"We will always be friends, Sookie," Calvin said sincerely.

"Yes. Well I have another friend in the hospital and I need to visit her now that my business here is finished. Jason, I'd like to hear from you more often."

As Sookie moved to leave Alcide stepped in front of her. "I hope you know I would have never asked you to do what you did."

"I know that, Alcide, but wasn't it helpful I did?"

"Your visits are always welcome."

"Thank you, I'm glad to hear that," Sookie said.

"I'll call on Eric tomorrow night, to settle the arrangements."

"I'll tell him. I really do need to go. Good evening."

Sookie didn't fully relax until they reached the limo. "Well that could have gone a lot worse," she said, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

"If you don't mind my saying so," Ferdinand said in a tone usually reserved for people who are telling someone they had over salted the casserole, "I found it quite unusual the king would have you debase yourself before the wolf pack like that. No matter how important it is to him to have a good relationship with them."

Sookie raised her head and smiled at Ferdinand. "I don't mind you saying so at all, but I'm pretty sure Eric would have your head on a plate if you said that to him. You see, he didn't have me do anything. As far as he's concerned I could have gone to the casino of my choice and thrown thousand dollar chips all over the roulette tables all night long and sent you to the pack council with a note telling them to kiss my ass.

Eric would never ask me to do anything like I just did. To allow them all to think I was being forced to come forward and confess as if I was a child caught with her hand in a cookie jar.

He would never ask me or order me to do it and that's exactly why it was so important that I did. Because he would never ask, he deserved the benefits he'll get from it.

Because he loves me so much, some had begun to think he was getting weak. He has always valued a strong relationship with the wolves.. When I arranged for you to take my brother I put a serious strain on that relationship. I felt it was my responsibility to fix that strain. Tonight I did and I couldn't be happier."

Ferdinand didn't respond. Sookie smiled and rubbed her hands together. "I wish I'd thought to bring a donor."

"There is a donor in the security car behind us, Mistress," Pandora said softly.

Sookie put a hand on Pandora's shoulder. "I hope Mina heals in a hurry. I expect Pam to be screaming for you to come home any minute."

Pandora smiled and blushed. "I'm sure Belladonna and Jynx are seeing to all my mistress's needs."

"Has Jynx's coordination improved or does she still drop half of what she picks up?"

Pandora giggled as she answered. "She has settled in pretty well so she's not quite so nervous anymore. She still drops thing sometimes so we try not to have her carry anything sharp or made of glass."

"That's probably a good idea," Sookie said with a chuckle.

When they arrived at the hospital they parked in an inconvenient area so the donor could be brought in with them. Ferdinand suggested Pandora trade places with the donor, but she assured him she was no stranger to feeding and would have offered herself to Sookie except her mistress had asked her to avoid the need for her to do that if possible. Thus she had put a donor in the car with the Britlingens.

They arrived at Mina's room to discover she was doing both much better and much worse. She was all smiles and greeted Sookie and Pandora quite enthusiastically but she seemed drunk.

"She should be sleeping, but she is resisting the drugs," Oliver grumbled.

"He's very grouchy tonight," Mina slurred, pushing out her lower lip and giving him a sideways glance. "All anyone wants me to do is sleep."

"You need to sleep so your body will be well rested for your surgery in the morning," Sookie said soothingly as she stroked Mina's hand. "Are your nurses treating you well?"

Mina's expression changed. All of a sudden she looked as though she might start to cry. "Oh, so well, Mistress," she said as she squeezed Sookie's hand. "You have honored me so. Anyone who didn't know better would think I was the Mistress."

"You are the mistress of my heart, Mina." Oliver had come up behind Sookie and placed his hand on Mina's head.

"See?" Mina said with tears welling in her eyes. She released Sookie's hand and reached for Oliver's. "I may be the only woman you know who doesn't envy you your mate, because mine loves me as much."

"We're both very lucky," Sookie said. "You need to rest so you don't make him worry."

"He's worried because he's afraid I'll die," Mina said bluntly and Sookie saw the shiver run up Oliver's spine. "So I need to stay awake so I can spend every minute possible with him in case he's right."

"Don't be ridiculous, either of you. No one is going to die. You're going to have your leg set and as soon as it begins to heal properly Oliver will start feeding you and you'll be good as new in no time.

Oliver, if I thought she was in danger of dying I'd have this room so full of doctors there wouldn't be room for us."

"I am grateful, Mistress. I humbly pledge myself to you again." Oliver stood at the head of Mina's bed with his head hung.

"Fine," Sookie said, trying not to sound as irritated as she was. "Your first order is to come sit beside her." Sookie and Oliver switched places and Sookie issued Oliver his second order. "Hold her hand. Pandora will you turn the light off."

Sookie motioned with her hands for everyone else to back as far away from Mina as possible as the room would allow. Sookie pointed to a brush next to the sink and Pandora handed it to her. For the next twenty minutes two Britlingen nurses, Sookie's temporary secretary, her head of security and a pledged servant all looked on as the vampire queen gently brushed the hair of a human pet until she slept.

Back in the limo, Sookie's worry showed. "Pandora, I want you, Shana, Genevieve, Heller and Karen all taking turns being with her tomorrow. I don't want her alone for a single minute when she's awake."

"Yes, Mistress. She won't be alone."

"Good, let's go home. All of you need to get some sleep yourselves if you're going to be up early."

When se stepped out of the car in front of Valhalla she felt Eric, but she looked all around and didn't see him.

"I hear your performance was a smashing success and quite something to see. I am sorry I missed it."

Sookie spun round and nearly caught her jaw on Eric's knee as he landed.

"Take care, my love. You never know what might be falling from the sky behind you."

She wrapped her arms around him and stared up into his eyes. "Falling from the sky isn't exactly what I had in mind for you tonight."

"Indeed? I am intrigued," he answered with a taunting grin.

"Come here, you," she said, grabbing his belt and pulling him after her as she walked into Valhalla and headed toward the elevators. "I'll intrigue you."

"I believe you will," Eric chuckled, following her into an elevator.

As the elevator doors closed, leaving Ferdinand behind, Sookie was vaguely aware of the door in his mind hanging open as if inviting her in, but she couldn't have cared less. Now was not the time.


	21. Chapter 21

_**Chapter 21 **_

.

"And what is on your agenda tonight, my lady?"

Sookie closed her eyes and tightened her hold on Eric's arms as he nuzzled her neck. "I have to visit a sick friend in the hospital, then I was hoping to rendezvous with my lover if he could tear himself away from his work."

His nuzzles became sucking kisses until the flesh over her jugular was bright red and swollen. "And who is this lover whom you fear might foolishly choose mundane matters of business over the boundless pleasures of your bed?"

"Jealous?" she asked, wiggling around to face him.

He stared into the depths of her eyes and brushed his thumb across the taunting curve of her lips. She was a living flame, burning for him alone. Her touch brought the fire of passion to what had been the cold and barren emptiness of his heart. "It is my intent to kill him and take his place at this clandestine meeting, but I must first hear his description so I do not kill the wrong man."

"Oh, he's very easy to recognize," she said with a grin before arching and tossing her head back, bringing her breasts within reach of his mouth. He's very tall with beautiful, long blond hair and the most amazing ice blue eyes I've ever seen."

"So he is handsome, this lover of yours?" His chin grazed her hardened nipples as he covered the tops of her breasts with kisses.

"So handsome," she moaned.

"And what if I should simply keep you here and ravish you until the morning comes? Would I erase your memory of this other man?"

Sookie took his face in her hands and pulled herself close. "Other man? Don't know what you're talking about. What possible purpose could there be for other men when I have you? You say the silliest things sometimes." She kissed him hard on the mouth until they were both near boiling again.

"I really do need to go visit with Mina, but then I'm all about the ravaging until morning."

"I will keep you to your word, my lover. My hunger will allow for but a short visit only. One hour and you will return to me." He leaned and bit her shoulder, feeling the tremor run through her body as he drank. "Lest you should forget why you are to return, I believe we should have a preview before you leave."

"I thought we already had a preview?" she teased.

Eric rolled her onto her back and smiled down at her. That was only the warm up, my lover. The preview begins now."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Sookie walked briskly up the hospital corridor and past the guard stationed in the hall. Since her own security force had been increased, she'd had Ferdinand place a guard for Mina in case someone tried to get to her through Mina. It was highly unlikely to happen but it helped Oliver relax and it made Mina feel special.

Despite all the pictures she'd seen and explanations she'd heard, Sookie was not prepared for the reality of what she encountered when she entered Mina's room. She got two steps in and stopped.

Both Britlingen nurses came to her sides at once. The taller of the two stood so Sookie had to look slightly away from Mina in order look at who was speaking to her. "The patient is doing very well, Your Majesty. Her surgery was a complete success and her physicians have given us an encouraging prognosis. Considering the care she will have available to her, Miss Carter should be coming home within the week."

"Mina, that's wonderful," Sookie said, glancing over to Mina but still not moving.

The thick medicinal odors of sterilization and surgical prep liquids coupled with the sweet smell of Mina's fresh blood beneath her bandages was an assault Sookie hadn't been ready to deal with. "I don't know why I didn't think of this," Sookie whispered to herself in surprise.

The shorter nurse spoke next. "If you'd prefer, Your Majesty, we could give you the report outside in the hall."

Sookie gave the nurse an odd laugh. "Do I look like I prefer to stand around in hallways?"

"Forgive me," the nurse said with a bow and backed away without leaving the line of sight between Sookie and Mina.

"No, it's alright," Sookie said, realizing for the first time what was happening. The nurses had come so close to her not in order to be able to give their report quietly, but so they could protect Mina, from her. She may be queen, but she's still a very young and therefore potentially very dangerous vampire. She looked at the nurses. "It's alright. I was surprised for a minute, but I'm alright now."

She slowly walked to Mina's bedside. "How do you feel?"

"Better. It's sore from the surgery, but it doesn't hurt as bad when I move like it did before," Mina said with her irrepressible smile.

"May I?" Sookie asked, touching Mina's covers near her thigh.

"Of course," Mina said, her face as loving and trusting as it had ever been.

Sookie set her expression, braced for a shock and pulled the cover back.

Mina's thigh was now framed by a series of rings held in place with rods. The top and bottom rings, along with their connector rods would now bear Mina's weight. When she walked the pressure would be transferred from the top ring to the bottom, bypassing the crushed section of bone between. This section of bone was now held together and in proper position by a series of pins running from the various broken pieces of bone, through her skin, to the three center rings of the apparatus. It looked perfectly monstrous, but the concept was brilliant.

Sookie admired the device for a minute and carefully replaced the cover. "I'm sorry, but I can't stay long. It will be easier tomorrow when your wounds have had a little time to close a bit."

Mina reached for Sookie's hand. She took it in both of hers and brought it to her lips. "I won't have you suffer. They'll clean it up better tomorrow. Oliver can let you know when it's alright for you to come back."

"Mina, I'm so sorry. I think it's the combination of smells with all the cleaners. I don't know. We'll have you well soon, I promise." Sookie leaned down and kissed Mina on the cheek. "I can't wait until you're home. I miss you terribly."

Sookie touched Mina's shoulder and quickly left before she started crying. When she was halfway down the hall she leaned against the wall forced herself to breath to help her stop the tears. Very few escaped and Ferdinand was quick with a handkerchief.

When she got to the car she ordered the driver to just drive for a while so she could regroup before going home to Eric. When she felt she was ready she told the driver to head back to Valhalla. As they approached the parking lot she called Eric's cell.

"I'm back, you might want to check and make sure there are no other tall blond Vikings lurking around the lobby. I wouldn't want to drag the wrong one home."

His cell clicked off and he was standing outside the front door to greet her when the car stopped. He opened her door and reached for her hand. When she placed her hand in his, he pulled her to him and kissed her passionately.

"Are we entertaining the masses as well as each other tonight?" she asked with a giggle as their lips parted.

"I was unable to wait for the private performance," he replied, guiding her to the entrance.

The doorman held open the main door of Valhalla and Sookie froze, her sudden stillness yanking Eric back from his forward motion.

"Sookie, what are you doing?" he complained, but his irritation was displaced by concern when he saw the expression of trepidation on her face. "What is it, Dearest?" He faced her and moved his body between her and whatever it was she perceived to be beyond the entryway.

"Fire," she whispered.

Her voice was low but there was an edge of barely controlled panic beneath it. Her eyes were darting all around and she was seeing something but whatever she saw was not anything in the immediate vicinity of the main entrance of Valhalla.

"It's burning," she said, the timbre of her voice rising. She looked up at Eric, her eyes completely glazed over yet filled with frenzied fear.

"Everything is burning," she stammered. She took a step forward and collided into Eric as if she hadn't noticed him standing right in front of her or felt his hands on her shoulders.

"Oh my god!" she shrieked hysterically. "They're going to burn!" She slammed into Eric, pivoted around him and dashed through the door at blinding speed.

Eric and Ferdinand gave chase and caught up with her at the elevators, where she had terrified a group of tourists, tired from a long night of gambling, with her screams. Ferdinand shuffled the tourists aside and glamoured them into forgetting Sookie and deciding to go back outside and have a walk by the riverbank before retiring for the evening.

Eric took on the more daunting task of trying to corral Sookie, who was now sobbing uncontrollably and desperately going from one elevator to the next clawing and banging on the doors. She was alternately muttering, "I'm coming, I'm coming," and pleading with the doors to open.

"Your Majesty, here," Ferdinand said as an elevator behind her was coming to a stop.

The doors opened and all three hurried inside. Eric reached to push the button for the top floor but Sookie grabbed his arm. "Seventeen!" she cried. "We have to go to seventeen!"

"Of course, my love." He slipped an arm around her and began stroking her hair with his free hand. "Ferdinand, push seventeen."

Ferdinand did as he was told and Eric held Sookie tighter as the elevator made its way toward whatever was waiting on the seventeenth floor. Sookie chafed against being bound by Eric's arm but he didn't loosen his hold.

"They're burning!" she wailed as she fought against him. "Oh god! Eric, they're burning!"

Eric watched the green digital numbers near the top of the car count off their ascent and he braced himself as they neared seventeen. There was a high-pitched ding and Sookie tried to pull away as the car slowed to a stop. He lifted her off the floor and as she fought to be freed he whispered in her ear. "Tell me where, Dearest, and we will go there together."

"I don't know," she sobbed helplessly. "They're burning. Oh, Eric, they're burning. We have to hurry. We're not going to be there in time."

"Where shall we go, my love?" he asked, stepping into the hall.

"There!" she cried, pointing down the corridor to the right. Eric began walking down the hall and had only taken a few steps when Sookie became very calm in his arms. "Here," she said, her voice now a mere whisper. "We're too late."

Eric nodded to Ferdinand who came around and knocked on the door of room 1710.

"Extraordinary," said the accented voice from the other side of the door.

Eric stumbled backward a step as the door opened and his suspicion was confirmed.

"This is so much quicker and more dramatic than I expected," Leonas said with a broad smile as he took in the sight of Eric holding a distraught Sookie in his arms. "Remove the gag," Leonas instructed someone inside as he pushed the door open wide. The female vampire from the Leanne Institute was tied to a chair with cords twisted with narrow silver chains. "Just enough to keep her restrained, we don't want her injured," Leonas explained.

"You," the woman sputtered when the gag was removed. She was locked in Sookie's gaze. "You've been here before."

Leonas' head whipped around to stare at the woman. Eric left, still carrying Sookie, so swiftly anyone who didn't know better would have thought he simply disappeared.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

"Give me just a moment, my love," Eric said softly as he installed Sookie in the center of their bed.

"I'm alright," she replied.

He didn't believe her. Her body betrayed the truth. She was trembling all over and though she was not crying, her eyes were red and swollen.

Eric went back into the living area where everyone in the household was waiting anxiously to hear the reason behind him bursting through the door at breakneck speed and carrying Sookie directly into their room. He wasted no time with explanations since he himself was unsure of exactly what had happened or how to proceed from here. Better too much than too little, he decided.

"Ferdinand, I want the floor below us emptied as soon as possible. Have the desk find alternate accommodations for all the guests at no charge. Call Saule. I want one hundred Britlingens here now, fifty on this floor and fifty on the floor below. Get Devon Bradford up here as well and tell him to bring a bag. He'll be staying a while."

Ferdinand had his phone in his hand before Eric was even finished speaking. "Right away, my lord," he said as he stepped out of the way and began making his assigned calls.

Eric turned his attention to Pandora who was standing at the ready with her notepad. "Pandora, call Pam and tell her I want her and at least nine other vampires here and prepared for defense within the hour. Also tell her to try and reach Thalia for me. Then call Oliver and tell him his queen needs him."

"Yes, my lord," she replied with a nod.

Eric looked next at Karen, Shana and Genevieve who were standing together, clearly frightened by the activity. "If any of you would like to leave for a while, Pandora will arrange for you to be taken to sit with Mina until I am better able to determine our situation here."

The women looked at each other and back to Eric. "We will stay with our mistress," Genevieve said in a clear confident voice.

Genevieve remembered being at Fangtasia the night Heller came home with them. Pam had called her a pet even after Sookie had corrected her. Could that be true? Or did she simply not want to leave her home and Heller in an emergency? She didn't know what was happening but it was obviously something big to have Eric so upset. She knew Heller wouldn't be leaving unless Eric threw him out a window, but strangely, even so it was Sookie she couldn't leave.

"I am certain you will be a comfort to her," Eric said.

His tone was kind and appreciative. It was hard for any of them to imagine the man speaking to them with such heartfelt sincerity was capable of shredding them all to pieces in seconds, with his bare hands.

Eric returned to the bedroom to find Sookie exactly where he'd left her. She looked up and reached for him, offering him a fractured smile.

He took her hand and slid onto the bed behind her wrapping her in the security of his strong arms and his love.

They sat there for several moments before Sookie broke the silence. "That was her, the woman from Leanne. Eric, it's horrible."

"Tell me what happened to you, Dearest. I need to know as much as you can tell me before I speak to Leonas again."

"The door in her head was standing wide open, just like it was that night at Leanne. I think it must be like that all the time.

When we arrived at the main door earlier I felt like I used to feel all the time when I was human, back before I learned how to hold people's thoughts out of my mind.

All of a sudden I felt her thoughts rushing into my head. It was so intense and it just pushed everything else in my head out of the way. Not like when I saw in Gage Gordon's mind. I never lost track of anything in my mind. It was kind of like when we push the furniture to the sides of the room when we want to make space to dance. Everything of mine was still there, but what she was seeing and feeling was taking up all the space in the middle."

Sookie pushed herself back into Eric and tightened her grip on his arms. "Eris, it's awful in her mind and I think she's stuck there. I think she sees it over and over. When I first saw her she was standing outside the door and there was a terrible fire inside. It must have been her house burning. She was screaming and screaming. "Oh my god! They're burning. They're burning." Screaming over and over in my head. It was her children, I don't know how many but they burned in the fire.

Just before we left she looked at me and begged me to help her. She saw me. I'm the first person she's seen since she got trapped where she is. I can help her, Eric. I can close the door. I'm certain of it. Her life is a constant nightmare. How can I refuse her? How can I live with myself if I leave her to watch her children burn forever?"

"I suspect a mother in her position would be haunted by the deaths of her children forever with or without your intervention, Dearest," Eric whispered as he kissed her shoulder.

"Yes, but most are able to function and do other things; live their lives without dwelling on the horror of it every single minute. She can't, Eric. She can't do anything but think about the fire and relive it, all day every day. That's all she's done for years. If I don't help her I condemn her to spending eternity with nothing but that fire."

"How do you know you can close the door? And if you could close it, how do you know that would fix anything? You can't really know this."

"I know it." Her voice was calm and still. She turned her face upward and met Eric's eyes. "I feel it. I feel it as certainly as I feel your love."

"Then it is so," he said and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I'll talk to Leonas."

"Thank you," she said.

They sat in the center of their bed, Eric protectively surrounding her with his body, as time passed around them for nearly an hour as the panic was tempered by a more self-possessed restraint.

If they were to work through this, Eric would need as much information as possible. The time had come for full disclosure. "Eric, I have to tell you something else." Sookie pulled back and turned to face him. She tried to look at him but her eyes faltered.

"What is it, Dearest?"

"You're going to be angry," she whispered.

"Have you added divining the future to your arsenal of personal skills?

Or are you making an assumption? If it is an assumption, am I to be convicted without hearing the evidence?"

She couldn't hope to win at cat and mouse with him. Blunt was the way to go. "I can see a door in Ferdinand's head." She felt her spine begin to shiver. She wasn't sure what she was afraid of; she knew he wouldn't hit her. It was his disapproval that would cut her to the bone. There was a pause of several seconds as if he was waiting for her to continue.

"And?" he finally asked. "Did you find anything interesting behind it?"

"I don't know. It never stays open long enough for me to look." Sookie sat back and stared at Eric. She expected an angry lecture demanding to know how long this had been going on; instead she got laughter.

His eyes danced joyously as he laughed and she couldn't help but smile. He was irresistible when he was like this. He took her hands in his and said, "Sookie, if I got angry every time you did not see something in a vampire's head I fear I would have strength for little else. Is this the extent of your supposed crime or is there more?"

"I've been trying to provoke him to get the door to open when I could peek in, but I haven't been able to do it. It's always an inconvenient time when I see his door."

"You believe these doors to represent something deeply emotional affecting the vampire who displays them, correct? An obsession of some sort?"

"Yes."

"And you have no idea what is behind Ferdinand's door?"

He looked as if he found it difficult to believe she didn't know. "No," she answered.

"Shall I tell you?"

Sookie was flabbergasted by the question. "Do you see doors too?"

More laughter. "Thankfully, no. As a rule, such as in the case of Ferdinand Rodriguez, my eyesight alone will usually suffice in determining the motivations of a vampire."

"His motivation to do what?" Sookie asked.

"His obsession is he thinks himself in love with you."

Now it was Sookie's turn to stare. She could feel the idiotic expression on her face but she seemed unable to make her facial muscles do anything about it. "You can't be serious."

"You find it incredible a man would be in love with you?"

"Well, I don't, I mean he, well, no, but Ferdinand? He's only been around me a few days. I only met him when we went to get Jason." Sookie's mind was racing trying to figure out if she'd noticed anything out of line from Ferdinand or if she'd done anything to encourage feelings like that from him. She could think of nothing. What if Eric thought… "Eric, I didn't do anything."

He smiled and spoke like he was saying something she should have known all along. "Of course you didn't, my love. I did."

"What?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "So bored you're inviting competition now? You should've let me know. I could have tried to make it more amusing for you." Sookie wasn't sure if she wanted to sit here and pout or start screaming. She opted for sitting.

"Ferdinand is hardly competition, but allow me to set your mind at ease. In the unlikely event I am ever faced with a serious rival for your affections; I give you my word, I will not be amused.

My reaction to Oliver's failure in Nevada left you in need of a vampire who could be trusted to think of your safety first in an emergency, when I was unavailable to you. Only a vampire who loves you can be trusted to do that. Aside from Oliver, I had no such vampire.

Ferdinand has a sort of hero worship fixation on me. So it was easy to make him covet what is mine. Do you recall our conversation in the car as we approached Leanne for the first time?

"I remember he flirted with you and me both," she replied with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

"I asked if he had ever seen a creature more extraordinary than my queen. I showed him my ideal. His admiration for me made him adopt my ideal as his. You thought he was flirting with you when actually his praise of you was to show me he admired what I admire. He was seeking my approval, Dearest, not yours."

"There really is no limit to your arrogance," Sookie huffed.

"I believe we had that conversation months ago," he said with a killer grin. "Returning to the business at hand, don't be slighted, I assure you, you are beautiful and much to be desired and coveted. You say you have not been able to trigger his door. When did you first see it?"

"In the Madam Guillotine club in The Oubliette."

"He was your escort, yet you were denied entrance as I recall. You called Vivienne in the middle of our business meeting. That must have made an impression on him as well as the girl at the door. Was it then you saw the door?"

"No, it was later."

"Before or after I arrived?"

"Before," she answered, thinking she'd found a flaw in his theory. "I had taken Brenda, the donor into a feeding room. We were coming back to the table when I saw it, but it was just a flash. I didn't even connect it to Ferdinand."

Eric smiled lovingly at his bride. "There is only one time you are more radiant than when you have freshly fed, and Mr. Rodriguez will never see you in that state, mental doors be damned. He looked at you and saw what he knew he would never have. Next?"

"The same night, you and I were leaving, walking away. I turned."

"You thought you heard someone say your dress was caught," he prodded.

Damn his memory. "Yes," she said. It wasn't technically a lie. When she'd turned to look at Ferdinand that was the excuse she'd given. She knew he knew she wasn't being completely truthful. "I saw his door. I had no idea what it was and I didn't want you to be upset with him for nothing."

"I understand," he said, passing over her indiscretion. "Only a moment before I had advised him to find a woman like you and he would be happy for eternity. Next?"

He was being indulgent. God, she almost wished he would hit her. His patient indulgence made her feel dirty, as if she'd done something much worse than she actually had. When was next? "I was feeding from Karen in the limo."

"I am sensing a pattern," Eric said with a satisfied smirk.

"You really are insufferable," Sookie complained.

"And yet you suffer me," he said with absolute confidence.

There was no getting around him. His charm was overwhelming. "Lucky for you I love you so much," she said with as much defiance as she could muster.

"I thank the gods daily for my good fortune. I believe we were up to Mr. Rodriguez having difficulty concealing his desire for you as you cruelly tempted him by feeding whilst you were sharing a confined space. Next?"

She glared at him and said, "Last night at the pack meeting."

"While you were being spectacular?"

God, Eric was gorgeous when he smiled, even when it was this smug, told ya so smile. "I had turned and reached out to Jason so I could hand him off to Calvin. I couldn't look then because I had to concentrate on what I was doing."

"So yes, right in the midst of your performance you turned and he saw your face. This is great fun. We should do this more often. You will make a telepath of me yet."

"Shut up, smart ass."

Eric's roars of laughter filled the room until she couldn't hear herself think. "You win," she conceded. "You're right."

"I told you that when we started, my love. Was that the last time?"

He leaned in to offer a conciliatory kiss but as soon as his lips touched hers she pushed herself back from him. "Oh my god!"

"What?"

"Last night!" she said in an alarming tone. "We had gotten in the elevator and we were kissing and he was, Eric, he was watching."

"And you saw the door?"

"Yes, what a creep." Sookie shuddered, prompting Eric to hold her closer.

"He thinks himself in love with you, Dearest. It is natural for him to become jealous when he sees us together."

"That's just gross."

"Sookie, what he feels for you will assure his loyalty and will make him value your life above his own. Promise me you won't try to change it. Look to verify what I've said if you must, but I must have your word you will not attempt to alter what he feels."

"I promise. I won't purposely change anything."

"Will you be alright if I leave you for a while?"

"Where are you going?" Sookie asked, sudden worry threatening to choke her words.

"I won't leave the apartment."

"I'll be fine. I've never heard anyone's thoughts through our walls. I think it must be something they used in the soundproofing."

"I'll send your ladies to you," he said as he got up.

"Thank you."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

"Has the floor beneath us been emptied?"

"Yes, my lord, and the Britlingen force has been installed as you ordered," Ferdinand said.

"Saule, I am pleased to see you were able to position your forces so quickly," Eric said to her. "Will you be staying with us during Leonas's stay?"

A very choppy version of Heart and Soul began playing on the piano behind him.

Saule bowed and replied, "If it is your wish for me to remain, I am at your service, Your Majesty," her singsong voice camouflaging the deadly skill behind her words.

"Pam, if your talents at the keyboard have progressed no more than this, kindly get off my instrument before you damage it," Eric said without turning around.

"Fine," she groused. "I never liked that song anyway." Pam got up and wandered out into the center of the room. "You're frightfully dull tonight. I was expecting more excitement. Where's Mummy?"

"Sookie is resting and I'll thank you to leave her to it." From his seat near the piano Eric took in his surroundings. The top two floors of Valhalla were now on total lockdown. Britlingens were thickly dispersed throughout and they were fortified against almost anything short of a nuclear attack. His most trusted vampire warriors provided a buffer and Devon had cast cloaking spells over the roof to cover them in the event he needed to remove Sookie in a hurry She was as safe as he could make her under the circumstances.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the door when it opened. Oliver entered and walked directly to Eric, kneeling on the floor in front of him. "King Leonas is traveling with a party of twelve, including the patient from the Leanne Institute, a physician and two human attendants for her, as well as two attendants and eight personal guards for himself. Only two of his guards are staying with him. The remaining six bodyguards are booked into three rooms on the tenth floor. I am confident no others in Valhalla. If he has additional forces in or near Shreveport, I have been unable to discover them."

"Thank you, Oliver. You may stand outside your mistress's door. She is inside with her ladies." Eric met Pam's stare. "Pam, go to room 1710 and invite King Leonas to join us, without his guest. He is of course free to be accompanied by his bodyguards."

After precisely half an hour, Pam returned and held the door open upon coming inside. Leonas followed modestly with only two bodyguards and a third man less easily identified.

"This is Doctor Donald Buxton," Leonas said as if he had just strolled into a garden party with an old friend. "I assume he is not the guest you do not wish to see? Doctor Buxton, you have the honor of being in the home of my good friend, King Eric Northman."

"Doctor Buxton," Eric said in acknowledgement before addressing Leonas. "Your visit is most unexpected, Leonas. Had I been made aware, I could have received you properly. Please … sit with me." Eric gestured to a chair at his right. "Heller, will you get the doctor a chair. I believe His Majesty, King Leonas intends for him to join us."

Heller brought a chair and put it to Eric's left, facing Leonas, and the doctor sat.

"Will your charming wife not be joining us?" Leonas asked.

"My lady has a limited taste for being blindsided by those whom she believed to be friends. She has retired for the evening."

Leonas put his elbows on his knees and leaned forward on them, putting in a posture requiring him to look up at Eric. "You never told me she could read vampires. Eric, when they were here … did she,"

"No," Eric stated. "She did not. At no time did she ever see into the thoughts of a vampire in her human form. Until earlier this evening she was not certain she possessed this gift now."

"She must have suspected. Else why would she have her servants making inquiries after Nora?"

"Perhaps she was curious why a vampire was a patient at a facility thought to be for the treatment of shifters."

"Perhaps," Leonas said with a knowing smile. "But if that were the case, why not make her inquiries when you were there? Oh yes, she was preoccupied with her brother's escape at the time. Yet our little Nora made such an impression, the Queen of Nevada, Louisiana and Arkansas remembered her days later despite them being in the same room less than five minutes. Tell me, my friend. What am I supposed to think when I receive this report? What would you think in my place?" Leonas leaned back in his chair. His expression had hardened and taken on a more serious edge.

"I would come to the same conclusion you did. Though I question whether I would run headlong into another kingdom without so much as a courtesy call. And if I were to commit such an indiscretion, I am confident I would not set a trap for a mated queen without expecting to draw the wrath of her consort.

"You dare to threaten me?"

Eric's tone or expression did not change. He spoke with the same passive indifference he had since Leonas arrived in the apartment. "As you are aware, Leonas, I killed a king to make his kingdom a gift to her. Do not make the mistake of supposing I would shrink from killing another in her defense."


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

**.**

"Your attitude is something less than hospitable, Eric. We wouldn't want the good doctor to speak ill of you to his friends. It might affect those tourism dollars we're all so fond of." Leonas sneered.

"Those who come to stay in my hotel and gamble in my casino find me a generous and accommodating host. As for those who come to aide in invading my queen's mind, in her own home, their opinion of me means nothing and their money means even less." Eric's glacial glare moved from Leonas and settled on the doctor. "My indulgence of anyone menacing my wife is of extremely limited duration, Doctor Buxton. Do not test me further."

Leonas laughed out loud in an attempt to lower the tension in the room. "Stop making threats every time you open your mouth and listen to me, Eric. You don't seem to understand exactly what you have locked up in your ivory tower."

"Your insults to my intelligence are becoming tiresome, Leonas. The material point is this, the tower is mine and likewise so is everything in it. Fortunately for me, my understanding of my possessions does not require your approval.

If you intend to attempt an explanation for your unannounced and unprovoked attack on my queen, as a courtesy in recognition of our long friendship, I will offer you this last opportunity to give it. Otherwise, you leave me no choice but to consider your action as an open act of aggression to be interpreted as a declaration of war."

Leonas leaned back and crossed his legs. "The moment I first laid eyes on Sookie with the crowd at Fangtasia parting before her like the Red Sea, I knew she had turned your head and left you a changed man."

"Explanation, Leonas! I asked for an explanation of your actions, not my history from your point of view. This interview has ended. Pam, escort Leonas and his human back to their rooms."

Eric stood and Pam moved toward Leonas. Her jackal smile spread wide across her face and practically begging for someone to resist her. Dr. Buxton had stood and was clearly terrified and confused by his circumstances.

"Tell him about our sweet Nora, doctor," Leonas said casually. He remained in his seat and looking at Eric.

Eric moved his eyes over the doctor, who now had taken on the appearance of someone cornered at the end of a long alley. "If you have anything of interest to say, I suggest you speak quickly."

The doctor glanced at Leonas, who had begun staring absently at his perfectly manicured fingernails.

"You are in my kingdom now, Dr. Buxton," Eric stated flatly as he resumed his seat. "You need not look to the King of California for assurances he cannot offer you here. Speak or get out."

Dr. Buxton nervously sat back down. "As a human, Nora Stevens was the lover of a vampire in Everett, Washington. She was also the mother of three children and is it my understanding their intention was for her to be turned when her children were grown to the point of no longer needing her twenty-four hour attentions.

One night when her lover was out of town, she put her children to bed and went downstairs to watch television in her living room, where she fell asleep.

Shortly after two in the morning neighbors reported seeing flames coming from an upstairs window. By the time the fire department arrived on the scene the entire second floor was engulfed. They found Nora unconscious on her sofa. When they revived her outside on her front lawn, she fought them desperately trying repeatedly to go back into her house and rescue her children, but it was too late.

From that moment her waking hours were spent screaming as she relived being held back as her house burned with her children inside. She was hospitalized, for shock, that morning and was kept in restraints to keep her from injuring herself. The next night her lover returned and came for her. He took her and held her at his home. He hired me to care for her during daylight hours and he dedicated himself to caring for her in the evenings. Neither of us was able to reach her. If she was awake, she screamed until she was drugged into a fitful sleep."

Eric felt his abdomen clench as he remembered Sookie immediately after seeing Gage Gordon, screaming until she was drugged into a stuporous sleep. His countenance remained unchanged.

"Eventually, one night she stopped screaming and my employer mistakenly took it as a sign of improvement. Believing she was finally healing, he turned her. He thought since she was healing that turning her would hasten the process. What he didn't realize was she wasn't healing at all. She was retreating even further into herself. Her mind had shut its self off entirely from the outside world. That was eight years ago."

Eight years? Where was this woman's coward of a vampire lover who cared for her so little he would leave her trapped in her hell for eight years? Eric knew what he would have done long before eight years had passed. He was certain of it. He could not have borne watching Sookie suffer for that long and having ended her suffering he then would have had to end his own.

He was left with a vampire as helpless as a newborn human and in need of just as much care. For five years we cared for her in the basement of his home. As time passed he began to go out more and more until one night he came home and said he'd found a place to take her. He left us at The Leanne Institute and we've not heard of him since.

She can't even feed for herself. She has to be transfused daily. She will come with you if you lead her by the hand and she'll follow simple instructions if you tell her to sit or lie down or stand up, but she does nothing for herself. She doesn't interact, or at least she didn't until you and your wife came to Leanne."

"You are in my court, sir, and my wife, as you so casually refer to her, is queen. You will regard her with the respect she is entitled or not at all," Eric growled.

Dr. Buxton looked like he was about to soil himself as he continued. "I apologize, Your Majesty. I meant no disrespect to Her Majesty the Queen. In fact, though we have not met, I am in awe of what she managed to do by simply being in the same with Nora for only a minute or two."

When several seconds had passed and it appeared the doctor had nothing further to say, Eric slowly closed his eyes and opened them again. "I am rarely fond of guessing games. If this is the extent of your explanation and you expect this laborious tale to serve as sufficient justification for what you've done tonight, I fear despite the admittedly Shakespearean proportions of its tragedy, it falls well short of adequate.

What is it you claim my lady has done?"

"Nora spoke," Leonas said. "After you and Sookie left the clinic, Nora said, 'Come back. Please don't leave me.' She hadn't spoken a word in eight years. Sookie steps into the entry of a room filled with over two-dozen shifters and Nora. As near as we can establish, they never even made eye contact, yet when you left, she spoke.

Of course I was notified immediately, but I didn't make the connection to Sookie's special ability among humans. I thought perhaps Nora thought someone in your party appeared kind or something and she was reacting to that.

Then last night I called the clinic to see if she had spoken again. Imagine my surprise when in the middle of my call I am told a man calling on behalf of the Queen of Nevada was on the other line inquiring after Nora.

I'm sure you understand I was obliged to come right away to find out what Sookie saw and to see if she could do anything else to help Nora. I couldn't contact you first. I couldn't risk you reacting like this." Leonas waved a hand around the room.

"It looks like you're preparing for some sort of Biblical war around here, but I'm sure you've determined by now I came with a small entourage, not an invading force. I suspected you might not be inclined to allow Nora come to a meeting with Sookie, so Dr. Buxton put together a cocktail of drugs to intensify Nora's feelings in hopes of magnifying whatever Sookie saw so it would draw her to Nora. As you saw, it worked beyond my expectations or intentions and I sincerely hope Sookie did not suffer any ill effects from the experience.

Eric, you know what I am looking for and you know I am willing to pay any price to have it. Ask what you like. We are alike that way, you and I. Nora's illness is so like Anna's, my friend. Your treasure may be the key to unlocking mine. I ask only that you have her try."

"And then what?" Eric asked. "You know your brother better than me and I know him well. Which impossibility would you ask? That he willingly grant Sookie access to Anna and risk Anna being cured and choosing you, or that I willingly risk Sookie's life by attempting to arrange a clandestine meeting between her and Anna?"

Leonas sat up straight and spoke with a desperation near madness. Eric recognized the tone. He'd heard it in his own voice when he had looked down at Gage Gordon's drained corpse in the Crypt of The Oubliette and said, "Such little payment for what you took from me."

"Eric, I will speak to Vincentas. I can make him understand. He will do it for Anna. He loves her. He will want what is best for her. He will want her to be happy."

"Do you want her to be happy, Leonas? Because when last I saw her, she did not appear unhappy."

"You question the depth of my feelings for her? This is an insult I confess I did not expect from you."

"I question if perhaps you have not begun to drown in those depths. I believe the woman has found her happiness and I believe you have seen it. Thus I wonder if it is not her happiness but her person you long for."

Leonas stood and for the first time his simmering anger showed through. "Do not mock me, Norseman. I who promised you aid because I saw in your eyes what others have no doubt seen reflected in mine. Of course I long for her person. I have longed for little else for over six centuries.

I fulfilled my promise. I helped you make her a queen over vampires before you had even turned her. The time has come for you to reciprocate."

"I cannot give you what you want, Leonas. What you ask of me is not mine to give. You are welcome to remain as our guests while my lady and I consider your request.

I must insist the woman in your party receive no more intensifying drugs for the duration of your stay." Eric stood and stared directly into Leonas' eyes. "A violation will result in immediate war. Believe me when I tell you this is not a threat."

"This is not a matter of discussion! You are her maker. You could compel her to do this."

"Yes. As her maker, I could compel her. But as you have pointed out, she is more than my progeny. She is my love. In its infinite generosity, serendipity has dictated I am also hers. Not for your desires or even the demands of the gods would I risk diminishing her affections toward me by compelling her to place herself in jeopardy. If you thought you could force my hand in this matter you were mistaken.

I do not authorize any further contingent from California to come into Louisiana, but of course you and your entourage are free to stay or go as you will. I will instruct the desk you are to be given carte blanche here at Valhalla as well as The Asgard. The concierge will be pleased to see to any special requests you may have.

Now if you will excuse me, I will be retiring for the evening."

Eric nodded to Pam and went to the bedroom.

All eyes turned to him when he walked into the room. He glanced around at the anxious faces looking to him for guidance and reassurance. He smiled for them and the tension in the air eased. "Ladies, if you will excuse us, I will speak with your mistress in private." He nodded slightly as all but Sookie scurried past him.

When they were alone in the room Sookie extended her hand and he responded at once. He stood behind her and wrapped her in his arms as he bent to kiss her neck.

"You're always so patient and soft spoken with them, my darling. I believe they're all in love with you."

"It was not me they refused to leave tonight, Dearest, but if you would prefer me to be indifferent or abusive toward your pets, I am more than willing to conform to whatever form of treatment you wish to be applied in our home."

"I think it's lovely the way you treat them. I want them to feel they're important, and when you notice things like how well Shana's doing on her diet, it makes them all feel good."

"I notice everything, my love. I believe it may be my taking the trouble to comment which they appreciate," he quipped with a grin.

Sookie laughed and leaned back against him. "Yeah, I guess if you want to get technical about it, it's the words, not so much the actual noticing they like. Now I'm sure you noticed how nervous everyone was when you came in, so why don't you make a few comments to fill me in on your chat with Leonas. I'm assuming you did talk to him?"

"Only moments ago. In this very apartment."

Sookie's fingers closed tight on his wrists. "You brought him here?"

"Yes, without the woman, of course. He brought the human doctor who has been caring for her with him. He gave her drugs to intensify her visions. That is why you felt her so strongly.

It was as you said. Eight years ago her children were killed in a house fire. She was rescued and tried to go back in for her children but she was held. It was too late. She went mad. Her vampire lover turned her expecting it to be a cure for her, but of course it wasn't. Three years ago, her lover left her and her doctor at The Institute and did not return. The first time she spoke since the fire was the day she saw you at Leanne."

"She spoke then?" Sookie asked. "I didn't hear her."

"It was shortly after we left. She said, 'Come back. Please don't leave me,' and she did not speak again until Leonas opened the door to us in room 1710."

"And what did you and Leonas decide?" Sookie braced herself for the worst since none of the possible answers she had considered ended well.

"We decided not to kill each other."

"I guess that's progress."

"Yet."

"Who needs progress anyway? Stand-offs are much more suspenseful. You say Leonas brought a doctor with him? We can pretend he's giving us all a stress test."

"We must think, Dearest. I wrongly assumed we would have more time to consider our options. It was a costly error. I have failed you."

"Don't be silly. So we have less time. Whatever solution we would have come to, we just have to come to it quicker." Sookie turned and gave him her brightest smile.

"How do I argue with logic like that?" he chuckled.

"Simple. You don't. You said we need to think and people do their best thinking when they're relaxed. Since you're our best thinker, I figure you need to be the most relaxed, so come with me." She took his hands in hers and began leading him by walking backward toward their bed.

"Dare I ask your plan for this exercise in relaxation?"

Sookie gave a little shove and a huge smile. He fell back so he was sitting on the side of the bed.

"I plan to kneel between the feet of my king," she purred.

Eric watched in silence, fangs fully extended, as Sookie separated the space between his legs with her body and sank to the floor before him. She leaned forward, resting her forehead against the hardening bulge in his pants. Her hands took their time easing down the backs of his legs to the heels of his shoes, removing each with deliberate care and placing them aside. When his socks had joined them she raised her head and moved on to his belt, pulling the leather strap through the buckle releasing it from the piercing double tongues which held it in place.

He reached for her, but she stayed his hands, placing them back at his sides, on the bed.

"Sookie, I,"

"Shh, lift, my darling." She tucked her hands up under his shirt, feeling her way until they met at his spine, then inched her fingers beneath the waistbands of both his slacks and his boxers. When he obediently lifted his rear slightly off the bed, she slid the two garments from under him freeing his erection and eliciting a soft moan as his head lolled back in anticipation of her next move.

The subtle quiver she felt from him as he pulled off his shirt and she ran her palms along his inner thighs brought a satisfied smile to her lips and an instant, involuntary reaction from her body. As the increased velocity of the blood coursing through them created the illusion of searing their cool flesh with inner heat, she devoured him.

He collapsed backward across the bed as her soft and dewy mouth eagerly surrounded his engorged cock. His hands tore at the bedding as her nails dug into his ass cheeks, coordinating with her hard swallows to compel him deeper into her until his mind relinquished its grip on all memory of anything but her rhythm.

He locked his legs around her, lest she attempt to pull away. There was now but one pathway to the relaxation her mouth had offered him. His every muscle and sinew was coiled taut as she propelled him with ferocious precision and skill toward the inevitable release of all his tension. When at last the moment came, it was all encompassing, violent, complete. He cried out as his body arched and his hips convulsed into her. She brought a hand forward to help keep her where she wanted to be, holding him, encouraging him with firm caresses until he had given her his all.

As he lay with his eyes closed and a contented smile lifting the corners of his lips, Sookie licked her own before biting hard into his inner thigh. He sat bolt upright and gasped before a long groan escaped him. The intensity of the pleasure of feeling her filling herself with him even further was intoxicating beyond comprehension. She gulped and swallowed again and again, feeding until her blood was indistinguishable from his in her veins.

When she couldn't possibly take another drop she crawled up and wilted onto his chest, with her neck exposed to his mouth. "Drink, my knight," she murmured.

As he took back some of what she'd taken his mind was clear and his thoughts serene. His lover nourished him until his strength returned. With nothing but the coming dawn to separate them from the potential of impending disaster he felt the calm of a man whose world is in perfect alignment, if only for a moment.

"Kiss me, my lover," Eric whispered, lifting her face toward his.

Sookie started to pull herself to him, but before their lips touched, she stopped and sat up on his chest. "Lover," she said. "Eric, that's it."

"That's what?" he asked, propping himself on his elbows as much to be certain he was fully awake as to ascertain her meaning.

"Her lover!" Sookie's eyes widened and she was positively bursting to say something. "You said her lover had abandoned her and her doctor at Leanne, right?"

"Yes."

"In order to avoid a lot of people dying, I'll have to agree to see Nora at some point. Leonas won't wait forever, but in case I am able to help her snap out of her nightmare, I won't bring her back to a world where she has nothing. I insist that her lover be found and agree to be here for her if I'm able to get her back.

If he really did just leave them and disappear, then looking for him should buy us some time at least. Maybe long enough for us to come up with something more permanent? That could work, couldn't it?"

Eric sat upright, slipping an arm around her to keep her from falling off the bed. All thoughts of what he'd planned to do to her when he got her under him were temporarily shelved. Sookie watched his eyes expectantly as he ran over the merits of her plan in his head.

"Yes," he said finally. "That could work, assuming of course it is true Leonas is unaware of the vampire's location. We would have to offer him an out, a time when you would see the woman even if the lover had not been found, so long as a diligent effort had been made to find him. He might agree to a week, ten nights at most. A week would be enough. If we can't come up with a mutually agreeable to solution within a week it isn't going to happen anyway." Eric leaned forward and pulled her to him. "What a brilliant queen I have."

"Not very brilliant or we wouldn't need a plan at all."

"Dwelling on what is past is rarely productive. We are where we are. We will move forward from here. I think you deserve a reward for so skillfully relaxing your way to such clever thoughts."

Sookie screamed a high-pitched laugh as he quickly spun her round and switched their positions.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Pam was at his side the moment he emerged from the bedroom. "A messenger from Leonas was here seconds after sundown. He's requesting an audience with both you and Sookie at your earliest convenience."

Eric glanced around the room. He motioned to Heller who responded immediately, coming to within a few feet and bowing his head.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Go to room seventeen-ten and inform King Leonas the queen and I will receive him at eleven o'clock, here. We request he bring the human doctor with him to answer questions for the queen. That is all."

Heller nodded again and left.

"Eric, that's less than two hours from now," Pam said, her worry clear in her voice.

"Thank you, Pam. If I should lose my ability to determine the time, I now know where to turn."

With her impulse to scream at him barely under control she responded, "You know what I meant. Is she ready to sit down with Leonas?"

With the patience of a loving father, Eric took Pam's chin in his hand and looked into her eyes. "You have known Leonas for more than one hundred-fifty years, Pam. You have spoken with him, danced with him, fought beside him and if I am not mistaken, slept with him. Tell me, would you be ready to sit down and negotiate with him if it was you who had something he desired beyond relieving the loneliness of his bed?"

She wanted so desperately to have it in her power to help him, but it wasn't. She could feel the impotent rage filling her and she did not speak for fear of dissolving into sobs.

"I thought not," he said softly. "No, Sookie is not ready, but nothing we could do in the next few hours or even few days would change that fact, and even if it would, he would never allow for that much time. She is not educated, but her instincts are strong. We must trust her. As our queen she is entitled to our trust." Eric smiled as he released Pam's chin. "Before morning we will know if indeed I have chosen as wisely as I believe.

Oliver, your mistress is concerned about Mina. Go to the hospital and see to her. Call Pandora with a report on her condition within the hour to ease my lady's mind."

"Right away, my lord," Oliver said with a bow and he was gone.

"I'm going across the hall. Pam, if you would go and help Sookie decide what to wear. She is concerned about making an impression."

Pam nodded and headed to the bedroom.

"Sookie, couldn't you get him to spring for a decorator when they were putting this place together? What's the point of moving if the only difference is being higher off the ground?" Pam leaned against the doorjamb and gave the dressing room a lazy once over.

"We liked the bedroom the way it was. The rest of the apartment is different," Sookie stopped brushing her hair and looked up at Pam. "I'm glad you're here, Pam. He needs you. Even if he won't say it."

For a fleeting moment Pam looked as if she'd gone numb. Then she shook it off, put on her best sneer and strutted to the closet. "Let's see what you've got that says, don't fuck with me, I'm as royal as you."

"How long do we have?" Sookie asked. She resumed brushing and watched Pam's reflection flip through hangers behind her.

"Eric sent Heller to tell him to be here at eleven. He hates being late, so I imagine he'll be here by ten forty-five. What about this?" Pam held up a shocking pink satin dress.

Sookie glanced at the reflection. "No pink. I don't want to look like I'm going to a prom."

"Right. All grown up Sookie. Something dark. Red always works well on you. I'm sure Eric already went over this with you, but when you talk to Leonas make sure you think before you speak, every time. He won't miss anything, and he'll use everything you say against you. So be careful not to give him any more than you have to."

For the next hour Pam droned on and on about Leonas and his likes and dislikes and how crafty he was and how he enjoyed entrapping people with their own words and how good he was at doing it.

I live with Eric Northman, Sookie thought, and he's pretty darn good at dancing words around people too. I may not be able to beat him with words, but I do manage to play around him. That's what I'll have to do with Leonas. He had always hidden behind his manners and his charm when he was around me. He probably thinks I'm not too bright, so he'll try that again. All I have to do is throw him off guard once and it will throw him off his game. I may not make it onto equal ground, but any progress will be enough.

She ran through her wardrobe in her mind and made her choice. She looked over at the red-orange cocktail dress Pam had helped her select. "Pandora, would you please go across the hall and bring me a donor. Shana, the box there with the purple tassels." Sookie pointed to a black velvet jewelers box on one of the several shallow shelves holding her jewels. When Shana handed her the box she sat it carefully on her dressing table without opening it.

When she had fed she sent everyone but Shana out, instructing Pandora to slip in and let her know when Leonas arrived.

Just as Pan had predicted, at exactly ten forty five Pandora came to report Leonas' arrival. She was obviously shocked to see Sookie was still not dressed. "Thank you," Sookie said sweetly. "Please tell Eric I'll be joining him shortly."

Sookie opened the black velvet box on her dressing table and said, "OK Shana, here we go."

"You should move your home base to The Oubliette. As garish as it is, Las Vegas is so much more civilized and nearer to larger cities when you need more diversion," Leonas was saying to Eric when Sookie opened the bedroom door and stepped into the common area of the apartment.

The seating was arranged as she and Eric had discussed. Eric and an empty chair at his left for her at the head of the wide dining table; Leonas seated to Eric's right and the man who must be Dr. Buxton was seated where he would be at her left when she joined them.

She was in black brocade with a front panel of black lace over violet satin. It was nearly floor length behind and just below her knees in front, with bell sleeves and a full width sweetheart neckline which perfectly displayed the jewels she chose. An antique Tiffany set from the late 1920's made from rare Russian alexandrite stones set in platinum. It was a magnificent set consisting of stud earrings a double roped bracelet and a necklace of sixty-four stones in an inverted pyramid arrangement. It was beautiful at a glance, but when you stared it became even more amazing because the stones would change color in the artificial light, shifting from brilliant emerald greens to shades of red and deep violets. They were almost hypnotic and impossible to ignore.

The three men stood and Eric walked over to claim her, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips. "You are stunning as always, my love," he said with a private smile for her before escorting her to the table.

"Leonas, you know my queen." Eric had a hand on the small of Sookie's back and with his other he held her hand aloft to Leonas.

"I hope you'll forgive me not greeting you when you first arrived, but lately I've become wary of answering doors," Sookie said in a pleasant yet professional tone. She felt the tiniest falter from him.

He wasn't expecting her cool welcome. He had expected vivacious and flirty, he got composed and regal. She was rising to his challenge. "It is a pleasure to see you again, my dear," Leonas responded, taking her hand and brushing it with his lips before releasing.

The instant let go of her hand she swung to her left, extending her hand toward the doctor in a position which left him wondering if she intended for him to shake it or kiss it. When he placed his hand beneath hers and attempted to raise it, she froze wide-eyed and gasped in a breath.

She quickly put her left hand behind her and grabbed Eric's. She could only imagine the daggers Eric was staring at the doctor and from the expression on the doctor's face. He wasn't having to imagine anything. She saw the panic in his mind as he desperately scrambled for what to do to keep this offended king from killing him. Good. She didn't know if Leonas had warned him to try and mask his thoughts, but a man busy worrying about whether he would live to see tomorrow was a man too distracted to keep her from having a look around.

Sookie slipped her hand slowly back from him. "It is our custom to share such intimacies only with old friends. You must be Dr. Buxton." She smiled a friendly smile and re-extended her hand to him, this time clearly in an attempt to merely shake his.

"Doctor Donald Buxton, it is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty."

He was hiding nothing. He didn't even know Sookie was a telepath, and even more odd he didn't appear to be glamoured. He cared about Nora. He wasn't in love with her, but she'd been his sole patient for nearly eight years and he'd been told Sookie might be able to help her, but he didn't understand how.

Sookie sat and the men followed suit. "I'm sure we'll be good friends, Dr. Buxton. We both want to help Nora get well, so let's get started. Tell me about the drugs to intensify what she's going through. How does ratcheting up her pain help her?"


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

**.**

"When treating patients in a long standing state of psychosis originating with a severe psychological trauma rather than a degenerative psychiatric condition, it is believed among some in the medical community the patients can be effectively treated by imposing another trauma of equal proportions. It is believed this produces a situation conducive to having the patient simply snap out of it."

Dr. Buxton was a nervous wreck. His rambling psychobabble combined with his attempts to dumb it down so the non-psychiatrists he was with would understand him was exhausting. He was thinking about Gina Davis, the actress. He had no idea what Sookie wanted from him but he was pretty sure him sweating all over her dining table wasn't it.

God she had great tits and that necklace was incredible. Either he had finally dropped over the edge of sanity himself or the stones were actually changing color. He could have sworn they were green when she first sat down, but now they were shades of red and purple.

Samuel L. Jackson, now? Sookie was becoming very confused by all the different messages coming from the doctor all at once. Then Gina Davis threw a butcher knife across the room and into a tomato. -"Chefs do that," she said.-

Sookie's bored smile lit up. "The Long Kiss Goodnight!"

Dr. Buxton began to choke. His panicked stare moved from Sookie's boobs to her eyes.

Sookie glanced behind her shoulder. "Pandora, will you get Dr. Buxton something to drink?"

Pandora disappeared into the kitchen and emerged a moment later carrying a single glass of iced water. The doctor gulped down most of the water and managed to compose himself for the most part.

"The treatment you're describing," Sookie said quickly to compensate for her outburst. "I saw a movie not too long ago called The Long Kiss Goodnight. It had Gina Davis in it and she played a woman who had amnesia. She'd gotten amnesia when she bumped her head and she kind of got her memory back the same way. Have you ever seen the movie? What you're saying is really similar."

"Yeah," the doctor said taking another large drink of water. "I think I've seen that one. I suppose it is similar to that."

"Would you care for some more water?" Sookie asked.

"Yes, please," he answered and immediately Pandora scooped up his glass to refill it.

Sookie stared at Dr. Buxton and fiddled with her necklace to get his attention back on track so she could figure out if he knew anything that would be useful to her. So far, he didn't know much. "So did she?"

"Excuse me?" Dr. Buxton replied, looking up from Sookie's chest.

"Did she snap out of it?" Sookie asked.

"Unfortunately, no."

"I would like to meet with Nora, without her drugs. I'd like to try to help her."

"Wonderful!" Leonas said, clasping his hands together and unable to conceal a delighted smile. He reached into his jacket pocket and produced a cell phone. "Let me make a quick call and I'll have her brought right up."

"No," Sookie said emphatically. "Not now. It will take some preparation. Did you expect me to just run into her head and snatch her out, into a world she doesn't recognize?"

Leonas stared at Sookie in disbelief, still holding his cell phone aloft. After several suspended seconds he glanced to Eric and apparently did not find the support he wanted. Bringing the full weight of his glare back to Sookie and with little effort to disguise his patronizing tone, he said, "Madam, perhaps it escaped your notice, but Nora's tragedy happened only eight years ago. Little of the world has changed in that short time. I am confident her cultural sensibilities will not suffer as a result of regaining her wits."

Sookie could feel Eric's amusement as she straightened her spine and returned Leonas' unflinching stare. "I'm not quite as simple as I appear, Leonas. Even I realize the world hasn't changed too much in only eight years, but HER world had changed a lot. For example, she had a boyfriend eight years ago. It wouldn't be too much of a kindness to say, 'welcome back to the real world, by the way, your boyfriend dumped you while you were gone.' But then you're not really interested in what happens to her after she comes back, are you? Just so long as I show you whether or not I can bring her back at all."

Leonas' anger was boiling just beneath the surface. Sookie didn't need to be able to see his thoughts to see that. She might have pushed him a little too hard.

"What would you propose we do?" Leonas asked. "Track him down and force him to come hold her hand while she recovers. Not all vampires are willing to carry their attachments to such lengths."

Leonas let his eyes linger on Eric as he spoke that last, in hopes of drawing him into the argument, but thus far it wasn't working.

"There's a thought," Sookie said, managing to make the surprise sound genuine. "Do you think you could track him down?"

"To force him to play nursemaid?" Leonas snapped.

"Of course not. Dr. Buxton said it was years before her maker started going away from her. Before that he was devoted to her. Maybe it just got to be too much for him. Maybe he'd want to be here for her if her knew there was a chance she could come back."

"Your chosen is quite a romantic, Eric. Romantic hearts are rarely suited for immortality. They become disillusioned and whither."

"Your concern for my lady's heart is poignant but unnecessary. It is well tended," Eric replied.

"Well tended and covered with rare jewels I see. Alexandrite if I'm not mistaken. A remembrance of your maker?"

To Sookie, Eric said, "Ocella has a well known affinity for Russian antiquities." Then returning his attention to Leonas, he said, "Yes. A gift on his last visit."

"He shows you great favor with such gifts."

"I am his eldest progeny who has not yet met the true death."

"The Russian czars always held tremendous fascination for him. They had an eye for style and beauty which has no comparison today," Leonas said thoughtfully, and with a wistful sigh he added, "We live in a time where the garish and ostentatious pass for elegant and graceful."

"There is beauty enough to be found, if you seek it," Eric replied without the slightest touch of conviction. He was bored with the conversation. They were getting nowhere and the longer this dragged on, the more opportunity there was for Sookie to make a mistake.

"I think it would be great if we got back to talking about finding Nora's maker," Sookie injected. "For one thing, who is he? And for another, does he ever check on her? Or did he really just disappear altogether?"

Leonas leaned back in his chair. The conversation had clearly taken another turn toward the dull for him as well. He made a half-hearted waving gesture toward Dr. Buxton. "I think this is your area of expertise."

"His name is Richard Markel," Dr. Buxton said. "I agree the sight of Nora in her unresponsive state finally became too much for him to bear."

Dr. Buxton droned on about how devoted this Richard Markel had seemed, but Sookie barely paid any attention at all. She was seeing something else.

She saw Richard Markel. He was a fairly handsome man, probably in his late twenties or early thirties when he was turned, short dark hair and close shaven. He was solidly built but likely no more than five foot eight in height. His face was kind and his dark eyes filled with heartbreak when he looked at Nora. He would sit beside her holding her hand and speaking to her gently in one corner of the room, then he would get up and go to the opposite side of the room and stand there, seemingly doing nothing. How curious, Sookie thought.

The doctor was still going on, "… she's supposed to feed that way. Sort of like if you didn't know you couldn't fly, you could step off a building and nothing in your brain would prevent you."

Sookie looked again in the heartbreak in Richard's eyes. It was more than heartbreak. It was failure. What was he failing at? Guilt he hadn't been there to save her children? Maybe he felt that, but this wasn't it. He was failing right there, right at the very moment Sookie was seeing in Dr. Buxton's mind.

"… know she's a vampire."

"I'm sorry, what?" Sookie asked, running her left middle finger along several of the stones of her necklace.

"I was just saying the daily transfusions are necessary because Nora won't feed, but on occasion she's made herself ill by grabbing and consuming the human food of others. As if she didn't know she's a vampire," Dr. Buxton repeated.

"Fascinating," Sookie said, plastering her good Merlotte's waitress smile on her face. She was so close.

She went back to look at Richard Markel again. She walked right up to him and stared in to his eyes. Such sadness. What are you doing, she wondered to herself. And then she saw something she hadn't noticed before. It was a tiny gesture. No wonder it had gone unnoticed. Dr. Buxton hadn't known what he was doing, but thankfully he had seen him do it, or at least try to do it, so Sookie could see it now. Richard Markel's right index finger pointed downward and he mouthed the word, 'here'. He was trying, unsuccessfully, to summon her.

Nora didn't know she was a vampire. It was just like feeding. Nora's mind didn't understand it was supposed to be subject to being summoned by her maker, and since her mind didn't know it, she wasn't subject to being summoned. Just like she didn't understand how to feed.

Sookie remembered Anna at the Gala, "Vincentas has me on this ridiculous diet. I only drink red wine," she'd said. Anna didn't know she was a vampire most of the time, and she was under round-the-clock Britlingen guard for her own protection.

Oh my god, Sookie thought as the reality of her situation began to sink in. Leonas doesn't want me to cure Anna so she can make a free choice. He's her maker. He wants to summon her. That's why she's under constant guard. He probably tries all the time to summon her, hoping he'll do it at a time when she is aware and her guards aren't paying attention.

"Thank you, Dr. Buxton," Sookie said, her smile still in place. Sookie stood and turned to Leonas. "I think we're all settled here. Leonas, I'm very anxious to try and help Nora, but I would be much more comfortable doing it if she had the face of someone she cared about here to greet her if she comes out. I trust you would not want to deny her this comfort." Turning her smile to Eric and taking his hand, she added, "If you'll excuse me, I'd like to go visit with Mina. With your consent, of course."

Eric lifted her hand and kissed it. "I will come for you when Leonas and I have finished.

Ferdinand, call for my lady's car and escort her to see to her pet."

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Dr. Buxton. I'm sure I'll see you again soon, she said with an attempt to make her smile a bit more genuine. "Leonas, my ladies and I planned to go to The Asgard tomorrow evening. I hope you'll be available to join us if you're still here."

"I have every intention of being here tomorrow, my dear, and with your husband's permission I would be delighted to accompany you."

"Maybe you'll have located Mr. Markel by then and we'll be able to move forward with our project. I look forward to seeing what I can do for Nora."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Sookie entering the room interrupted a kiss between Mina and Oliver. Mina pushed the button on the side of her bed to raise her into a more upright sitting position, the shades of red in her cheeks rising right along with the bed.

Oliver jumped to attention and bowed his head. "Forgive me, Your Majesty."

"For what?" Sookie asked with a grin. "It didn't look to me like you were doing anything against her will. Besides, I should have knocked so I should be apologizing to y'all. My Gran would be thoroughly ashamed of my bad manners. Mina, do you know where your nurses went? I'll visit with them while you two have your alone time."

"You're most welcome to stay, Mistress. I'm very happy to see you," Mina said. Her smile showed the truth of her words. Being away from Sookie had been almost as painful for her as being away from Oliver. Mina wanted very much to go home.

Sookie went to Mina's side and grasped her hand. "I won't leave. I do want to chat with your nurses. So let me do that and I'll come back in fifteen minutes. Do either of you know where they've gone?"

"They said they would be in the family waiting room," Oliver said.

"Fine, then that's where I'll be too for the next fifteen minutes." Sookie gave Mina's hand a reassuring squeeze and headed to the waiting room with Pandora and her security detail trailing behind. Upon arriving, she asked all but Pandora to remain in the hall. Ferdinand agreed only because the wall between the hall and the waiting room was glass, so he would never lose sight of Sookie.

The two Britlingen Qualified Nurses were sitting together at the far end of the waiting room leafing through magazines. They both stood and nodded as Sookie approached.

"Your Majesty," the redheaded nurse said. "Miss Carter requested a private visit with Mr. Mayer."

"Yes, I know," Sookie said with a smile. "Isn't it cute? Please, sit down. You change shifts at two in the morning, right?" Sookie and Pandora took seats opposite the nurses, facing them.

"Yes, Majesty."

"Very good," Sookie said, reaching into Pandora's lap and taking the notepad and pen she always had at the ready. Sookie poised the pen over the paper and said, "Please get me up to speed on Mina's condition."

Sookie wrote as the redhead talked. To a casual observer it might have appeared as if Sookie was taking dictation or conducting some sort of interview without benefit of a tape recorder.

"Miss Carter's physicians are very well pleased with how well her surgery went. Her newest x-rays were done only two hours ago and they show everything is perfectly positioned. As a result, we were instructed to get Miss Carter up and see if she could stand with aid. It was a bit of a struggle for her and of course it was quite uncomfortable, but she stood. She held onto a walker for balance and support but she didn't use it to bear all her weight. I think fear was a bigger obstacle than her pain because once she realized her leg wouldn't collapse beneath her, that the Illizarov device was indeed bypassing the pressure away from her injury, she did very well standing and shifting her weight back and forth."

"That's wonderful!" Sookie said, relief clear in her voice. "How long before she should try to walk?"

"We'll start encouraging her to take a few steps in the morning. After a couple of days of walking a few steps several times a day, if her x-rays show everything still in the right place, Mr. Mayer should be able to begin limited feedings to hasten her recovery.

This was exactly what Sookie needed, some good news, something to buoy her spirits so her mind wasn't completely bogged down with thoughts of Nora and Anna and Leonas.

"You're taking such good care of my dear Mina. I need to think of something special as a reward for all of you. But in the mean time, I need only one of you to look at this." Sookie turned the tablet around and the taller, ebony haired nurse leaned forward.

When you return to your compound

this evening, please ask someone else,

other than your partner here, to deliver

a message to Ausra. Please do not

deliver the message your self.

I will be having my fencing lesson in

my apartment at Valhalla at 3am. Ask

Ausra to suddenly decide to join me.

"Will that be all, Your Majesty?" the dark haired nurse asked.

"Yes, thank you."

Sookie tore the page from the notepad and handed it and the pen back to Pandora. The paper, she folded several times and tucked into a small pocket at the inside elbow of her sleeve. The remainder of the promised fifteen minutes was spent with Sookie asking questions about the differences in human and supernatural medical facilities.

Sookie was relieved when the problems she'd had being close to Mina's wounds were not a problem for her tonight.

Oliver had put a chair next to the bed for Sookie to sit as she and Mina chatted about how the penthouse was being readied for her return home. The door to her rooms was being widened so it would comfortably accommodate a wheelchair. Bars were being installed in both her bathroom and the common restroom as well. A physical therapist had been hired and to help with her rehabilitation, several pieces of new equipment had been ordered for the gym.

Half an hour later there was a single rap on the door and Eric entered. Everyone in the room, except Sookie, came to attention. Even Mina seemed to straighten her spine a bit more.

"Your appearance is much improved since I saw you last, Mina. I trust your medical team is attentive?" Eric came to stand behind Sookie's chair and placed his hand on her shoulder. Her body reacted to his touch involuntarily. Her hand sought his and rested gently when it reached him and her head lilted slightly until it came in contact with his arm.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Mina answered with her head bowed. "Very attentive."

His thumb absently rubbed the back of Sookie's neck as he said to Mina, "Your dedicated service has not gone unnoticed. We are determined for you to receive the finest medical care available. My lady is most anxious for you to return home, where she may witness your progress and personally supervise your recovery."

Mina's cheeks were warm and deep shades of pink, causing even Eric to smile in response. Her voice was almost a whisper. "Her Majesty is very kind to me."

"Her Majesty is particularly kind to you because she is particularly fond of you." He leaned over Sookie's shoulder and lowered his voice. "It need not be such a secret that you enjoy being on much more familiar terms with my lady. I am aware she prefers to be addressed in a more intimate manner by members of our household."

Sookie's heart swelled with pride and love as she watched him being so gentle and friendly with her dear Mina. It must be the way I'm looking at Eric, she thought as she saw the door in Ferdinand's mind slowly swing open. He sees a look on my face he will never see directed at him.

Without turning away from Eric, she followed the image of the door with her mind. She'd never seen anything but brief flashes from vampires before. Ferdinand's mind looked like a long hallway lined with doors. She couldn't see the end of the hallway, but she got the distinct impression it went on for a very long way. All of the doors she could see were closed, except one. She moved slowly toward the one.

She half expected the door to be guarded somehow, that he might have a big dog or something chained to the frame, but there was nothing. Sookie peeked inside she saw what looked like an exhibit room in an art gallery filled with different types of pieces of art. In the center of the room was a huge, larger than life size, white marble statue of Eric. Like something you'd see in a movie about the Roman Empire, but it wasn't nude. He was dressed in jeans and his shirt was billowing behind him in the wind, He was carrying his massive sword and the only color other than white was the red he was spattered with. If this was what he looked like when he took over The Oubliette, no wonder Ferdinand had become fixated on him. He was positively godlike.

There was another sculpture of Eric sitting in his large thronelike chair at The Asgard and another one of his Norseman Sword on its own. Then she began to notice the smaller pieces scattered around the room, mostly pictures, mental images Sookie assumed, of her. Her laughing at something, her looking at Eric, her holding Mina's hand, her kissing Eric, every image captured in perfect lighting, any tiny flaw airbrushed away. Every picture showing him what The Norseman desired and therefore what was worthy; what he should desire.

On one wall a short film was playing on a loop, it was her running through the lobby and clawing at the elevator doors. She'd been seeing the tragedy inside Nora's head as if it had been happening right then. Her behavior had frightened Ferdinand for her sake. He'd felt helpless. He'd wanted to help her, but he didn't know what to do.

Another film further down the wall caught her eye and she moved toward it. It was her again, but this time she was taking off her clothes. She was standing at the foot of a bed and stripping, but it was not her bed. She resisted the urge to scream and looked closer. The woman stripping had her face and they shared some other physical features, but the breasts and the butt were wrong. The coloring was off and there weren't nearly enough freckles and even though the bellybutton was exactly right she had two moles on her hip, which the Sookie in this movie didn't have. It was his fantasy of her. It wasn't quite right because he'd never seen her naked.

Well thank goodness she didn't have to worry about him having discovered some way of spying on her and Eric in bed together. If he could, this image would be better.

As revolted as she was by Ferdinand's little collection of her, she kept her composure. Her thoughts slipped out of Ferdinand's mind as carefully as they had gone in. Eric had told her if she was tempted to look into Ferdinand's mind, not to disturb anything she found there since his feelings, whether they were real or simply the result of his hero worship of Eric, were helpful. They made him more willing to protect her.

"You see, Mina," Eric was saying, "even now I can feel her worry."

Sookie almost burst into laughter at the sound of him saying that. She wondered how long Ferdinand would live if he actually understood the worry he felt from her; if he'd been the one who'd just taken a tour of that particular little souvenir storeroom.

Sensing the odd shift in her mood, Eric gave her a quizzical glance before looking over to the nurses. "Inquire of her doctors tomorrow how soon we may expect to safely take her home."

"Yes, my lord."

"Oliver, I understand x-rays taken earlier today show the device she is in is successfully holding her bones in place. You might prick a finger and give her a few drops tonight and again tomorrow night." Turning back to Mina he added, "Not a mouthful, mind you, only a few drops."

"Thank you, my lord. I look forward to coming home soon."

"Fine," Eric said with an air of great accomplishment. He was quite pleased with himself for having carried off this small duty of visiting the sick in such a satisfactory manner. Everyone in the room, particularly Sookie whom the act was most meant to influence, appeared impressed by his exhibition of concern for his extended household.

Of course he was concerned, but not in the same emotional or sentimental way he would be if it were Sookie laying there confined to a hospital bed. He'd had quite enough of that for several lifetimes, thank you very much. There would be no repeat performances on that score if he could help it. He was not overcome with a sense of weakness when he looked at Mina as he had been when he'd held Sookie in his arms and faced the nightmarish possibility of her being lost to him. Mina's injury detracted from Sookie's happiness therefore it was an enemy to be fought with as much force as any other.

"Now I must claim your mistress for myself, for I too am desolate without her." Eric offered Mina his most gracious friendly smile before taking Sookie's hand and kissing it tenderly. "Will you join me, my lady?"

"You know perfectly well I can't resist you," Sookie said, looking up at him from under her lashes. In the back of her mind she could see Ferdinand quietly adding another image to his gallery and she didn't care. Let others have their fantasies. She could afford to be generous.

At Sookie's request, she and Eric rode back to Valhalla alone in the back of the limo, leaving Ferdinand to return in Eric's car, his mind awash with imaginings of what was going on in the back of that limo. If he'd been privy to the actual backseat activities, he'd have been terribly disappointed.

"What were you thinking about as I spoke to Mina, my love?" Eric asked as she curled up next to him and he encircled her in his arm.

"I had a peek behind the door in Ferdinand's head," she answered. "It looks like an art gallery in there. You'd like it. There's a huge white statue of you holding your sword right in the middle of the room."

"So it is not my romantic prowess he admires," Eric said with a chuckle. "Though I suspect this gallery of his is not without depictions of romance."

"No, it isn't, but there's nothing there to threaten us. Besides we have more important things to discuss."

"More important than my lady being on display in the private gallery of another man? I look forward to this fascinating discussion, but in the mean time your attempts to change the subject will not deter me."

"Oh, good grief, Eric, deter you from what? There are a lot of pictures of me, some are like photographs and some are paintings. I don't rate a statue and even your sword has its own statue. I get pictures and two short movies."

"And therein, I expect, is the rub. I take it he imagines himself with you? You know his secrets. There is no reason for me not to know them as well."

"I'm much less likely to kill him for them. He might consider that a good reason. But it doesn't matter because you're wrong. If he imagines us having sex, I didn't see it. There is a film of me running into Valhalla when I saw Nora's fire. He's concerned and wanting to help, but he doesn't know how."

"I know the emptiness of that feeling. Such pain is a source of great motivation. The other film must give him great pleasure to keep balance, yet you say it does not involve sex?"

"Is sex the only pleasure you get from me?" Sookie demanded. He was getting awfully close to being offensive.

"I take pleasure in your every word and deed, my love, and being the man who enjoys the felicity of your amorous attentions I find myself with no need to fantasize sex with you. I trust Mr. Rodriguez cannot say the same, so naturally I would expect him to have a sex fantasy."

"Nice recovery," she snipped. "The other movie is a woman with my face stripping at the foot of a bed. I assume he imagines himself in that bed."

"I feel certain your assumption is correct," he said with a widening grin.

"Well, I'm thrilled the thought of another man thinking about me stripping for him can bring such a happy smile to your face, but can we talk about something important now?"

"The thought of you stripping always brings a smile to my face, Dearest and the thought of other men having to only imagine the delights of seeing your body as you strip gives my vanity much amusement.

Now you have my undivided attention for the topic of your choice."

"I think Leonas wants me to cure Anna so he can summon her," she blurted.

"He could summon her at any time, Sookie. He hopes she will want to come to him."

"I don't think so. Nora's maker can't summon her. I saw him trying. Dr. Buxton saw him but I don't think he realized what he was seeing. I think Leonas would be happy if Anna would come to him willingly, but I think he wants her under any circumstances, whether she's willing or not."

"It is unheard of for a maker not to be able to summon their progeny. It is an inalienable right of a maker, superseding all other rights and claims."

Eric's stupefied expression said it all. If he'd never heard of something, it was definitely something extremely rare and unlikely. He pulled her around so he could look her in the eye.

"Did you see anything from Leonas?" he asked.

"No, I could only see into the doctor's memories of what he saw. Her maker, Richard Markel looked heartbroken when he looked at her. He tried and tried to get through to her and when he couldn't he finally gave up and left her in the care of the doctor she trusted."

"Just as Leonas left Anna in the care of Vincentas because it was his touch which calmed her," Eric murmured. "For centuries he has been revered as a man of the highest restraint and fortitude owing to his selflessness with regard to Anna."

"I don't think it was selflessness. He had no choice. He couldn't make her stay with him so he pretended he allowed her to choose his brother. Did he ever actually release her?"

Sookie had lost him to his thoughts for the moment. He wasn't accustomed to having to consider unknown factors. He hadn't had to do that for centuries. He looked like what Sookie imagined a general would look like if he had his battle strategy all mapped out in his mind and was convinced of its success, then just before he gave the order to march he learned his enemy had acquired an army of dragons.

"I don't know," Eric said at last, the words falling awkwardly from his lips. "Everyone has always assumed he released her, else surely he would have kept her for himself or killed her if she showed favor to his brother. Sookie, if this is the case, he is much more dangerous than I previously believed. If his entire existence has been based on his living with such a lie for six hundred years, the pressure of him believing he is close to finding a solution must be near uncontrollable."

Sookie felt a sudden panic rush through him.

"You can't go back to Valhalla. We have to get you away from him.  
Eric leaned forward and reached for the switch to lower the glass separating them from the driver, but Sookie grabbed his arm.

"No, wait. We can't run. We wouldn't have enough of a head start to get far enough. If we're not back home soon he'll be suspicious. We have to go back and we have to make sure Vincentas knows what's happening."

"But we,"

Sookie lifted her hand to Eric's mouth. "Please allow me to show off how well I have learned my lessons, my lord."

He smiled, kissed her hand and nodded for her to continue.

"We can't call him ourselves and we can't have anyone around us call him because he didn't come with enough brute strength to do anything by force. So he must have spies or surveillance in place. He may have our telephones all tapped."

"My pupil is indeed a star," he said happily.

"It pays to be teacher's pet," she said and kissed him on the cheek.

"Never a pet, my love." He resituated her on his lap and asked, "How shall we proceed, my beautiful apprentice?"


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

**.**

"I sent a message with one of Mina's nurses for Ausra to join me for my fencing lesson at three. I didn't say why, so if you don't like my idea I'll just tell her I wanted to visit with her," Sookie said and then paused for his reaction. He hadn't exactly been thrilled with all her plans lately.

"Is it a good idea?" Eric asked, his tone and manner exhibiting ease and curiosity without a single note of skepticism.

"I think it is."

"And did you think it through before or after you spoke to the nurse?"

"Before, thank you very much," she answered. She was tempted to stick her tongue out at him, but she resisted the urge. "I thought about it from when I left Valhalla earlier. We have to contact Vincentas to tell him what's going on here. We won't really know what we should do until we know how he's going to react.

Since Saule and Ausra used to work for him and Anna, I'm sure they would both be trusted by Vincentas. and unlike any of the rest of us, they can get to him quickly without a telephone."

Eric smiled and hugged her tight against his chest. "There, you see? I knew my confidence in you was not misplaced. Since Saule is the commanding officer of the Britlingens training in Louisiana, you made the correct choice between the two of them. Ausra will not be missed as readily by an outsider. And as if that were not enough for me to proclaim you brilliant, you even arranged for her to come to you during a prearranged appointment with our warlock. Beautifully done, my love. You have justified my pride at every turn this evening."

"So you approve? You think we should send Ausra?" Sookie cuddled into him as she basked in the warm glow of his approval and praise, her sense of accomplishment magnified because she could literally feel his regard for her actions.

"I believe you made a worthy choice and I see no reason to oppose it."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

When they stepped out of the elevator on the top floor Eric felt the wave of apprehension wash through Sookie. He put a protective arm in front of her. "Wait," he said, his voice low and his eyes alert for danger. "Tell me what you're seeing."

Sookie smiled brightly, looked up at him and whispered, "I see exactly what we're supposed to see. Nothing." Then standing on her tiptoes to get closer to his ear she said, "She's here."

She put her hand on his wrist and moved his arm as if she were opening a garden gate before proceeding down the hall, stopping at the door to their penthouse. The two Britlingen guards positioned on either side of the door each took a step away to allow them to pass.

Eric opened the door and held it as Sookie took two steps inside and stopped when she reached the end of the door, thus temporarily preventing it from being closed without obviously holding it to allow another to enter. "Good evening everybody," she said happily. "I hope you're all ready to protect the furniture from me when Devon gets here." That got a chuckle from everyone. Eric came in a beat behind and Sookie continued walking toward their bedroom.

Pam cut Eric off before he made it to the bedroom entry. Her worry was clear in her expression.

"Not now, Pam," he said in a low but firm voice.

"Eric, did she learn anything useful? What can I do?"

Eric stroked her hair and cupped the side of her face in his hand. "Relax, my child. I have chosen well. Our queen wears her crown with grace and wisdom."

Pam looked as if a tranquilizer had kicked in that very moment. Her animal about to pounce tension eased and she almost smiled.

"There," Eric said with a satisfied grin. "We will talk again soon." Then he went into the bedroom and closed the door behind him. He went immediately to Sookie's dressing room.

"Is she in here?" he was asking before he even rounded the doorframe. Once in the doorway he saw Ausra unzipping Sookie's dress. "Ah, so I see."

"I assumed from the tactical way Her Majesty's message was delivered that maximum discretion was called for," Ausra said with a nod to both of them.

"You assumed correctly, Ausra," Eric said. "I will leave my lady to explain our situation to you while I change for the remainder of the evening."

Eric left them and Sookie went through a quick version of her seeing the doors and Nora and how Nora's situation was so close to Anna's that if she were able to help Nora she would likely also be able to help Anna. She took more time describing the earlier conversation with Dr. Buxton and what she saw in his head and how she believed she had seen Nora's maker attempting to summon Nora but he couldn't so if their cases were really as similar as Leonas believes then it is very likely Leonas has never been able to summon Anna. So if she ever were in a position to help Anna, Leonas would take her whether she chose to go with him or not.

"I told Leonas I'd like Nora's maker to be here for her when I sit down with her. I was just stalling and he probably knows it, so it won't work for long. He'll either find the guy and get him here or else say he can't find him and insist we go ahead and see if I can snap Nora out of wherever she 's gone. Eric and I agree it's very important Vincentas knows what's going on here, but we don't want to risk Leonas having our phones bugged or spies. We need someone we can trust completely to get a message to Vincentas. We need you, Ausra."

Ausra bowed her head. "You do me great honor to select me for this task. It would be my privilege to act as royal emissary."

"I am pleased to hear it," Eric said, having appeared back in the doorway.

Sookie pulled on a T-shirt to go with the sweats she'd put on for her fencing lesson.

Eric looked around the room and looked at Sookie with a puzzled expression. "Dearest, the dimensions of your dressing room match my own precisely, yet I am ceaselessly impressed by the sheer quantity of material you are able to accommodate in the space. I often fear you will come in here and be lost to me forever."

"Focus, Eric."

"Always, my love," he said with a grin. "I was merely pointing out we may want to leave Ausra in my room rather than yours, if for no other reason than to offer Devon a more accommodating space. Though it would have the added advantage of preventing Ausra from having to dissolve every time she heard someone enter our suite since your ladies are known to come in to tidy up or whatever it is they do in here when you are otherwise occupied."

"Good point," Sookie agreed.

"I have my moments," he said with a nod.

Sookie couldn't help but laugh. She walked over and slipped an arm around his waist. "I don't know why I put up with you."

"If you remain curious in two hours I shall remind you," he said and winked as if to seal the bargain.

They went to Eric's dressing room and Ausra was instructed to wait there for them to return with Devon. He was due in just a few minutes.

Eris and Sookie had turned to leave when Sookie looked back at Ausra and asked, "Can you go through the gate invisible?"

"Yes, Mistress. It is a simple step between dimensions, not terribly unlike walking through the doorway you stand in now."

"Great! Then I'd like you to be invisible when we come in with Devon. That way he won't be able to say who he opened the gate for."

"Yes, of course, Mistress."

"You have your moments as well, I see," Eric said, lifting her hand to his lips.

They emerged from their bedroom into a state of organized chaos. Genevieve and Shana were making snack trays in the kitchen as Heller and Ferdinand moved furniture against walls to make room for Sookie's fencing lesson. Karen was playing something beautiful on the harp and Pandora was sitting on a stool beside her. Pam, naturally, was slouched in the large over-stuffed chair, which had yet to be moved from its place near the piano, doubtless for fear of Pam being disinclined to be moved.

"A harpist, Sookie? Really?" Pam complained from her seat gesturing at Karen. "I mean I realize she's your private stock and all, but honestly, couldn't you tell whoever procures your donors to find you a pianist or two? Most musicians taste good. Have you tasted Heller yet? He's yummy." Pam cast an appreciative glance in Heller's direction.

Genevieve froze in the kitchen but remained silent.

"I believe almost everyone is taking lessons at the piano, Pam," Sookie said with an indulgent smile. "I believe Heller and Karen both play piano but prefer other instruments. I see nothing wrong with that. They both play beautifully."

"It's your house," Pam huffed. I should send for Talon. "He's not much use for anything else, but he plays keyboards like a madman."

"Thank you, but I think we have plenty of madness. Play us something pretty while we wait for Devon, Karen."

"Play a waltz," Eric added.

"And Pandora can sing for us!" Pam chimed in.

"Pandora?" Sookie said, "I didn't realize you liked to sing. Yes, please, sing for us."

Pandora was blushing bright red from unexpectedly being put on the spot.

"Unless you don't want to," Sookie said, taking a step toward her and holding hand up. "I mean I don't want you to feel like you have to sing."

"I enjoy singing very much, Mistress," Pandora said shyly. "I would be happy to sing for you."

After a short huddle with Karen, their selection was made and Karen plucked a few strings on her harp to check the tuning. When she was satisfiedbegan to play Once Upon A December.

Holding Sookie by the hand, Eric walked to the center of the cleared floor and bowed deep to Sookie. "My lady."

Sookie giggled and gave him an overly animated makeshift curtsey in her T-shirt and sweats. He stepped to her in time to the music and as they took their first spinning steps, Pandora began to sing.

Though Sookie's feet made it to where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there, her head did not keep up. She was staring at Pandora.

"She has a charming voice, does she not?" Eric asked as he twirled them.

"Beautiful," Sookie said, continuing to stare. The melancholy of the music was enough to tug at the hearts of anyone, but the addition of the dreamlike sadness in Pandora's voice was almost unbearably mournful.

~~ far away, long ago ~~

~~ glowing dim as an ember ~~

~~ things my heart, used to know ~~

~~ once upon a December ~~

Without even realizing it, Sookie placed a hand in the center of Eric's chest and stopped dancing. She seemed almost hypnotized as she stared through eyes which were swelling with blood red tears.

"Stop!" Eric boomed and he grabbed Sookie as if he thought she were about to faint.

"No!" Sookie countered and shrugged out of Eric's hold. "Please don't stop, Pandora."

Pandora and Karen had both stopped and there was a brief moment of panic as their minds wrestled with whom to risk offending. Of course there was only one answer to that dilemma and Sookie wasn't it.

To everyone's surprise, Sookie was now seated on the floor in front of Pandora. She looked back over her shoulder. "Eric, please."

Eric nodded and Pandora quavered only slightly as she picked up precisely where she'd left off, with Karen joining in behind her.

Sookie's smile returned and she sat happily listening. Eric shoved a chair to her side and he sat. He reached down and gently took her arm. "Come off the floor, Dearest."

While her eyes never left Pandora, she allowed herself to be guided up and as she settled into his lap Genevieve appeared to hand Eric a box of tissue. Eric pressed one into Sookie's hand but all she did was close her fingers around it. He removed another from the box and dabbed at Sookie's eyes.

The action seemed to rouse her from her trance. She smiled at Eric and reached up to dry her own eyes as Pandora held the final note of the song. "Pandora, that was wonderful! Please sing something else. Something happy this time."

Another huddle with Karen and Pandora sang Six Pence None The Richer's song, Kiss Me.

After four songs Pandora's impromptu performance was ended by the arrival of Devon Bradford, who had barely entered before Oliver arrived behind him.

"Excellent!" Eric proclaimed from his seat. "The lessons shall commence." Sookie slid from his lap and again thanked Pandora for singing for them. "Tonight, my love, you have family and friends to help and encourage you," he said.

"Or laugh themselves silly if I fall on my butt," Sookie added.

"No guts, no glory," Pam said with a smirk.

"Devon," Sookie said, looking around the room at her audience, "come and help me choose what weapon I should embarrass myself with tonight."

"With pleasure, Your Majesty," Devon answered and walked toward her.

"Not with too much pleasure, I trust?" Eric stood and glared at Devon with one eyebrow arched. When Devon appeared sufficiently terrified, Eric chuckled and made a sweeping 'after you' gesture with his arm.

"Honestly," Sookie said before heading into the bedroom. "I don't understand it. Don't men ever grow up?"

"Never, my love," Eric answered with a laugh and he and Devon followed her in.

The moment the bedroom door clicked shut behind them the atmosphere in the room changed. Sookie was no longer the tolerant mate indulging her lover's childish antics and Eric ceased to pretend he felt his place in Sookie's heart was being threatened. They both dropped their facades and took Devon by the arms, one on either side, and practically dragged him to a door on the opposite side of the room. Now he was truly terrified.

"Stop struggling," Sookie snapped impatiently. "We have to hurry. If we take too long it will look suspicious."

"I-is this where Y-Your M-Majesty keeps her weapons?" Devon stammered.

His teeth were chattering so badly Sookie wondered if they might shatter and start falling out of his mouth in crumbled bits. "What on Earth is wrong with you? My weapons are over there in my dressing room." She pointed back in the direction they'd come from and looked at Devon as if he'd gone mad. "This is Eric's dressing room. We need you to do something."

"D-don't you have d-donors for that?"

"What?" Sookie shrieked.

"Get inside, you idiot," Eric barked, annoyed with the turn the conversation had taken. Sookie opened the door and Eric gave him a rough nudge inside. "No one wants to eat you. Open a gate to the Britlingen dimension."

"Wha? A gate?" Devon was at once relieved and ashamed of his misunderstanding. "I'm so, uh, I mean to say, please accept," he was only making things worse.

"Mr. Bradford, if you would be good enough to bore the queen with your apologies at some future time, you could utilize the few moments we have available at present to do what you have been asked to do. Summon the gate." Eric was no longer in a humor to suffer trifling.

Devon looked around the austere room. There was enough space but there was no Britlingen. Devon was more puzzled than he knew how to express. He had no idea what they hoped to accomplish. There was no one to send through from this side and in order for Britlingens to come from their side to here, there were negotiations to be held and terms to be agreed upon and the witch or warlock who participated in those was always the same one who would perform the gate opening spell.

"Your Majesties, I'm afraid I'm a little confused,"

"Devon, there is nothing confusing," Sookie said softly. "It is a perfectly simple request. I don't mean to be rude, but we're in a hurry. Please just open the gate, then we'll get my daggers and go back out front and play with knives and pretend this never happened."

If she was trying to convince him this wasn't confusing as hell, she failed, he thought, but she was right about one thing. It was a perfectly simple request.

Devon paced off a circle in the approximate center of the room while chanting the ancient incantation for summoning the gate.

A few seconds later he began circling again and the space within his circle seemed to shift slightly, as if rather than a single uniform space there was a translucent photo of the space laid over it. It created an area where everything seemed slightly out of focus.

As usual, when a Britlingen was in this dimension in their invisible state, Sookie could not see either Ausra or her thoughts, but she could sense the space in the room which appeared to be empty but wasn't. Suddenly there was a ripple in the out of focus space, as if it were a pool of water and someone had dropped a pebble into it. As soon as Sookie saw the ripple she no longer felt the space where Ausra had been.

"Thank you, Devon. We can go back now," she said.

The wall of out of focus quivering air vanished and despite being as confused as ever, Devon didn't question. He simply followed Sookie and Eric to get her daggers.

As Sookie strapped her martingale onto her left hand and attached her main gauche to it, Eric spoke to Devon.

"It is imperative you do not speak of what you have just done to anyone other than the queen or myself. I will need your assurance of your discretion."

"You have my loyalty and my word, Your Majesty. I swear an oath on all I hold dear. On pain of death I will carry the events of this room to my grave."

"Remember your oath, Mr. Bradford. The day you break it will be your last."

Sookie picked up her jeweled Katara dagger in her right hand. She didn't comment on the exchange between Eric and Devon. She merely said, "Shall we?"

Her nervousness was actually helpful. Sookie found she could channel the extra energy it gave her into her fighting as long as she could keep herself from wondering what Ausra was doing at any particular moment. Did she make it safely back to her dimension? Were there ever problems going back and forth? Was she in Lithuania yet or would she need to rest or something before going through another gate? What time was it in Lithuania? Surely it was day there, since it was so far away? She had so many questions now. Why hadn't she thought of them before sending Ausra away?

"Ugh!" She parried left instead of right, colliding with Devon knocking him down and bouncing herself into the wall.

Eric and Oliver looked up from their conversation. Seeing she wasn't injured, but the wall was Eric stifled a laugh and called to her, "Are we decorating again, Dearest? Or has the wall offended you?"

"It was a little too solid to suit me," she hissed, offering Devon a hand up.

"I see. You might consider having Mr. Bradford cast a spell over it for you. Perhaps he could turn it to gelatin?"

"Do you have anything useful to add? Or are you just passing out decorating tips tonight?" she snapped at him.

"I do have a suggestion. Ferdinand, are you armed?"

"Yes, my lord," Ferdinand answered.

"Good. Partner with Mr. Bradford against her."

"Are you crazy?" she shouted. "I'm already losing against one and you want them to gang up on me?"

"Your mind is occupied elsewhere, my love. You were losing because you failed to remain focused. If we add an opponent, your thoughts should be less able to wander. Trust me. You will do better. Show her no mercy, Mr. Bradford."

He was right. When Devon and Ferdinand both came at her something clicked and she became a coordinated flurry of slashes and kicks. She felt confident one or both of them would have ended up dead if it had been a real fight.

While Sookie was busy imagining herself winning tests of Eskrima skill, Eric was telling Oliver to discontinue feeding Mina his blood for a few days.

Oliver's face became a picture of worry. "Have you had word she is not progressing as well as we had been led to believe, my lord?"

"Not at all, Oliver. My concern is not she is progressing poorly, rather she may progress too quickly. In consideration of our queen's love for Mina, as of this morning her security detail will be increased. Bobby Burnham will be speaking to his contacts at the hospital to arrange for the two rooms on either side and three across the hall from her to be made available for our use in seeing to Mina's security and personal medical needs."

"Oliver's eyes traced the wood grain on the bar in front of him for a full minute before he looked up and met Eric's gaze.

"I understand, Your Majesty."

"Do you?"

"I understand there is a reason it needs to be medically necessary for Mina to remain in the hospital for the next few days without running the risk of her physicians wanting to release her. Continued feedings might impress the staff to the point of suggesting she come home.

I further understand upcoming security will be vital. I will begin making daily sweeps of the building and coordinate with Mr. Burnham and notify you at once if I encounter any problems."

"At the behest of your mistress, I am placing my trust in you again, Oliver. I have faith in her wisdom and she has faith in you. Do not fail her."

"I will not disappoint you or my mistress, my lord." Oliver vowed.

"We are depending on that being true."

Eric turned to watch Sookie fight. She was mesmerizing. Her movements were almost feral, with just enough control to make her lethal. He hadn't seen anyone with such finely tunes natural instincts since he'd trained Pam. When Sookie had a bit more training she could be paired with Pam for a savage game of good cop, bad cop. Few would stand a chance against them. The thought excited his imagination to the point of want to watch her do more than play at knife fighting.

Eric stood and began to slowly applaud. "Excellent exhibition." When they stopped he walked over and took Sookie's hand. "Well done, my love. Thank you gentlemen." He caught her eye and asked, "Shall we get you cleaned up?"

Without further ceremony, they left the room for their bedroom.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

"I am pleased with your progress, Dearest. It seems Mr. Bradford's recommendations were not as exaggerated as I'd feared," Eric said as he kicked his shoes into the expanse of his dressing room and hurried over to Sookie's.

He found her still struggling to release herself from her martingale. "Allow me," he said, taking her hand and removing the jeweled piece of equipment and placing it on the shelf next to her daggers.

"You think everybody's reputation is exaggerated just because you've never been beaten," she teased.

"That is incorrect. I have been undefeated for a millennia, this is true, but,"

"But on the last night you were human your army lost a huge battle for the first time ever and you were wounded and you were so shocked and Ocella showed up out of nowhere and made you a vampire and you've not lost a fight since. Yes, I know.

Eric, one defeat in over a thousand years doesn't exactly make you a loser. It was one loss. The millions of times you've played it over in your head don't count."

"You are mistaken. They count for a great deal. Do you understand what it means to learn from your mistakes?"

"Of course I do. So you learned and now you don't make mistakes."

"Everyone makes mistakes, Dearest. In over a thousand years of battle, I have one from which to learn. Thus I depend upon it to continue teaching me. Each time I replay it is different. Sometimes only by placing one man a short distance from where he was originally and sometimes that one small movement makes all the difference in the outcome.

When you win, you remember only that what you did that one time in that unique situation will work. If you are ever in a like situation you know what to do, but chances are you will rarely if ever be in a like situation.

But when you lose, you remember everything. You remember the position of every man and horse, every weapon, every stone, the angle of every hill and the depth of all the water whether it be an ocean, a stream or a puddle left by the morning dew. You remember the sounds of bodies crushing against each other and the screams of wounded and dying men, enemies and allies alike. You remember the smell of sweat and blood and freshly hewn earth. You remember the light, be it the sun or the glint of a sword; and the feel of the ground, solid beneath your feet slowly becoming muddy and slick as you trudge through the scattered asunder remains of men and beasts driven into the soil.

With a memory so vivid you can learn many lessons. You replay it in your mind and you reposition your men or arm them differently and you can see how each subtle shift alters the balance on the field. This memory will prepare you for endless battles."

Sookie lifted her hands to his face and held it tenderly for just a moment looking into his ice blue eyes and waiting for him to return to her from that far away field in Sweden so many long years ago. His eyes had seen so much more than she could even imagine. At last he blinked and offered her a wistful smile.

"Come my warrior," she said as she pulled her T-shirt over her head and tossed it aside, then sent her bra to join it. "There are no more battles tonight." She stepped out of her shorts and panties together, took his hand and led him to the bathroom.

She turned her back to him long enough to reach into the shower and turn the water on. It was long enough. When she turned back he too was naked. He closed the space between them and lifted her in one arm, carrying her with him into the shower and closing the sliding glass door behind them.

She wrapped her legs around him as she felt the cool tile at her back. His hands pushed back her hair and framed her face. He bowed his head until his forehead rested against hers and whispered to her, "You are my solace, Sookie Northman. You bring my mind a peace I never imagined could be true."

She smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. "I think maybe you define peace a little differently than most people. You may not have noticed, but there's been a whole lot of chaos around ever since I first set foot in Fangtasia."

He chuckled softly and kissed her once. "You speak of external chaos, my love. I refer to the quiet inner calm your touch bestows."

"Well don't calm down too much just yet," she purred and raised her mouth to his. "If I remember correctly, you promised to remind me why I put up with you."

His response to the urgency of her kiss was immediate. As the glass fogged and tiny tendrils of steam began to dance around them, he tasted the rich sweetness of her. She felt herself sliding down the misted tile as he lowered them to the floor.

Eric positioned himself kneeling on the floor and sitting back on his feet with the spray raining across his back and spattering to the floor around them. As he eased her onto his waiting erection, her long moan of pleasure made his blood race. He would never have enough of hearing her respond to him entering her. His cock swelled within her until even the slightest movement created a trembling friction between them which was agonizing in its perfection.

She threw her arms around his neck and held tight as she luxuriated in the heaven sent sensations flooding through her body. "Oh, Eric," she said into his shoulder as she rocked her hips in rhythm with him. "I would die a thousand deaths to feel you inside me."

"Only one, my love," he answered and thrust into her again. No woman had ever felt like her. They had all been pleasurable, to be sure. In fact he was convinced no man could have ever had so pleasurable a sex life as himself, but somehow Sookie stood apart from the others and he'd yet to figure out exactly how she did it.

She wasn't the most beautiful of his lovers or even the most skillful, though she was certainly not without beauty or skill. There was just something elusive about her he couldn't put a finger on, but at present the demands of his lust were overriding the demands of his curiosity. Pondering the mystery of Sookie's allure would have to wait.

He snaked an arm around her waist and gave her a nudge. "Lay back."

Her head lolled and her spine stretched into a twisted arch, gradually coming to rest in the cradle of his arms as he folded himself over her to kiss her neck. His entire body seemed to surge with power as he felt her react to him and in turn his body answered her, their flesh moving as one driving its self toward an explosive orgasm.

A Sookie began to approach her climax, he felt her muscles tighten as she tried to hold back and wait for him. He responded by slowing their pace.

"Let go," he whispered before taking a mouthful of her breast and beginning to suck as she whimpered and writhed.

She grabbed his upper arms trying to lift herself enough to face him but she couldn't keep herself from going weak and crying out every time he plunged into her, filling her so completely she lost track of everything else. She let her neck fall limp but dug her fingers into his arms to keep her hold on him.

He was close now. The heat of his passion coursed through his blood, intensified by the surrounding steam and warm shower cascading over them. As he neared the brink, he bit into her breast and sucked hard.

Sookie screamed and her body lurched as Eric slammed into her a final time. He released her breast with a feral roar as he reached his climax and crushed her tight against him.

Within seconds he buckled to one side and brought her with him to the floor where they lay there allowing the shower to wash them clean as they gathered their strength for another go before the coming sun called them to their bed for the day.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

**.**

"How lovely to see you again, child. You have been missed at court."

Ausra smiled as she stepped into the Gate Room and saw Phyllida's welcoming face smiling back at her. Phyllida was one of six gatekeepers in the service of King Vincentas and she had been here longest.

"I am happy for the opportunity to see old friends again. I hope to see many, though I expect my stay to be short. I seek an audience with the king."

"Then you have at least two hours to visit with your sisters and tell them of your adventures before you can apply to the Ambassador for a royal audience."

My adventures, she thought. I better not tell them too much about my adventures or they'll all want to leave here and come back with me. There was nothing to compare with the beauty of the Lithuanian court and there were many people coming and going all the time generating their own brand of drama to keep you on your toes. But there was that element of shiny newness surrounding the Louisiana court. That yet untamed spark which both promised and threatened the unexpected.

Ausra took a deep breath and smiled over her shoulder at Phyllida before opening the door connecting the Gate Room with the Sanctuary.

The Sanctuary was the name given to the enormous common room of the Britlingen residence within the palace. She was completely surrounded within seconds of stepping through the door.

For the two hours before sunset Ausra entertained her fellow Britlingens with tales of being assigned to Louisiana. She tried to limit herself to describing the new training facilities and how they were used to buffer the recent tensions between the wolves and panthers. She left out the reason for the tension and no one seemed to notice. It was accepted that competing packs of were-animals would be at odds with one another. It had always been so.

But despite her diversionary attempts, there were the inevitable questions. "Is the Norseman as handsome as his portrait?" "Do his eyes seem to burn when he looks at you?" "Have you seen him kill anyone?" "Is it true his human queen has been turned? We heard a rumor." "Did you see Lady Anna when she was there? She says she talked with the queen and danced with the Norseman. What happened? Tell us everything, please!"

Ausra laughed often at their insatiable thirst for gossip and answered all the questions her limited time allowed. All too soon the coming sunset signaled the need to move on to her more pressing business. She pulled herself away with promises to return and talk more with them if her business permitted.

As she walked the expansive halls leading to the receiving offices she was reminded of the countless hours she had spent standing watch at this door or that one and how many visitors and foreign dignitaries she had escorted back and forth to meetings or parties or to the donors quarters. Yes, her new life in Louisiana was very exciting by comparison. Though there was much to be said for stability and calm as well.

She arrived outside Ambassador Tumim's offices and was greeted by more smiles from friends. The two who had replaced her and Saule as the Ambassador's personal guardians were every bit her equals in skill and Sasha was a wicked chess player. Good thing there isn't time for a challenge chess match, Ausra thought, because I haven't improved my game at all since we last played.

"What brings you to court?" Sasha asked.

"I am sent by His Majesty, the King of Arkansas, Louisiana and Nevada to speak with the Ambassador on a matter of urgent business."

"The Norseman? Is he coming here?" Sasha asked excitedly.

"Their Majesties shared no travel plans with me. I am charged with delivering a message."

"Oh." Sasha sounded disappointed with Ausra's answer, but she smiled anyway and instructed Ausra to wait while she checked with the Ambassador for a convenient meeting time.

"His Grace Tumim will see you immediately," Sasha announced when she emerged from the office. She held the door as Ausra swept through.

"Is your business with me or with the king?" Ambassador Tumim asked the moment the door had closed behind her.

Ausra bowed her head in deference to the Ambassador's rank before speaking. Even the urgency of the situation couldn't override her years of training. "Your Grace anticipates the intent of my mission," she answered.

He considered her response and leaned back in his chair. He made no gesture for her to sit and she did not ask. She simply stood facing him from across his desk.

""Before leaving the comforts of my bed this evening I received a call from an agent of His Majesty's brother Leonas, King of California. It seems Leonas is planning a trip to Europe beginning late next week and he requests permission to add a visit here to his itinerary. Having ended this call I arrive in my office to find an emissary of King Eric waiting for me in the hallway. Since I have personal knowledge of the existence of telephones in the Kingdom of Louisiana, I am left to assume your presence here has some connection to Leonas. There are few forces which would separate the Norseman from his lines of communication.

Come. His Majesty will still be in his apartment. We will visit him there."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Sookie woke to the sensation of Eric lightly running his fangs along her inner thigh. "Mmm, I could definitely get used to that," she hummed as she slid her leg to the side in invitation.

When he reached the inside crook of her hip he gave her a loud smacking kiss and looked up at her. "I would not wish for you to become complacent."

"Oh, I promise to never complain." She draped a leg over his back and trailed her foot down his spine.

"Hardly an inspiring promise, my love. Forgive me if I choose to see if I cannot elicit something more from you."

Before she could respond, his hands were on her knees, pushing them wide apart and his mouth returned to its prior pursuits. She closed her eyes and leaned to one side groping to find his hand. When she'd laced her fingers with his she relaxed, allowing her body to sway with the ebb and flow of the pleasure he gave her.

As her passions overran her body, her moaning sang to him; setting his rhythm and pleading for more. After a moment he put her hand down to the bed and angled her arm with the elbow close to her side. She was so absorbed in the exquisite rapture of him ravishing her, she didn't notice what he was doing with his hands until he raised her back and arranged her other arm as he had the first. He wanted her to hold herself up on her elbows. He wanted her to watch.

"Eric, I,"

His lips moved and he sucked hard on her clit, cutting off her words. The message was clear. Don't speak, just watch. So she did. Though at times her arms trembled to the point of threatening to collapse beneath her, she watched. As his lips and tongue expertly teased and taunted her inflamed and tender flesh. He drove her again and again to the edge of orgasm only to retreat to take long lingering drinks of her sticky sweetness, ending in leisurely wet kisses.

"I love you," she rasped.

He lifted his face and the smile she saw on his lips and in his eyes was so sincere. "And I you, my beloved." This time when he returned his attention to her swollen clit, he did not withdraw when she reached the crest of climax. He pushed her over the edge with blazing enthusiasm and she rewarded him with heavy groans and screams of ecstasy.

When he was certain she would not soon forget the electricity crashing through her, and feeling her orgasm had nearly driven him to his, he propelled himself up her body. She lay flat on the bed staring up at him through glazed eyes, her limbs trembling from exhaustion.

He plunged his erection into her. The sensation of entering her caused a roar which culminated in his bite. He pierced the soft flesh of her neck and drank deep.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

An extra table was brought to Sookie's platform in the high stakes Hall of the Goddess. Pandora, Belladonna, Karen, and Shana were seated there. Sookie and Pam occupied Sookie's regular table and Genevieve and Heller wandered out to some other area of the casino.

"Pam, I'm sorry Eric's making you babysit me. He just gets so nervous when he can't be with me every minute." Sookie looked out into the crowd in the her area of The Asgard and wondered if maybe they should move from her table to Eric's in the main casino. The rowdier customers were almost always to be found there, so Pam would have a lower chance of being bored into a coma. Of course Pam was bored most of the time anyway, so she was used to it.

"Eric doesn't get nervous. He surrounds himself with people whose job it is to make sure everything that needs to be done gets done so we can keep him from getting nervous. If we fail, he gets angry and we suffer. Inflicting that suffering releases his tension and keeps him from getting nervous. It's like a whole eco-system dedicated to preventing Eric's nerves from being seen by anyone."

"I guess it's good y'all have it all worked out," Sookie responded, not really sure what to think about what Pam had said. "But I'm still sorry about you getting stuck with me."

With a smile just a little too broad to look quite comfortable on her face Pam said, "Where's the fun in having a baby sister if you can't take her out and play with her every now and then?"

"Did Eric tell you Leonas would probably be joining us sometime tonight? I was trying to sound casual yesterday and I invited him."

"Well won't that be cozy?" Pam deadpanned. Then turning serious she added, "Be careful Sookie. You've forced him into a corner and he's desperate. You have something he wants and he'll get it. He won't stop until he does. You have to understand him. You have to understand what you're doing."

"What do you mean, what I'm doing?" Sookie demanded. "I'm trying to stay alive and keep Eric alive and maybe, if I'm lucky, help a woman who has been living in a fiery hell for the last eight years. If you can tell me a better way to do it, believe me Pam, I'm all ears."

"Calm down. We're on the same team here. Eric told me you think Leonas can't summon Anna. Is that right?"

Sookie relaxed, but scooted her chair closer to Pam and leaned in closer to her. "When I was talking to the doctor, I saw him thinking about a time when he was watching Nora's maker, Richard.

Richard was standing across the room from Nora and staring at her but not speaking. He looked like he was trying to will her to do something and I didn't know what it was until I noticed that every so often his finger would point down the floor. He was doing it without even thinking about it. At first I thought it was really weird, then it clicked what he was doing."

"He was trying to summon her," Pam said.

"That's what it looked like to me. The way Leonas insists Nora's case is almost identical to Anna's, I figure if Richard can't summon Nora, Leonas probably can't summon Anna either."

Pam's eyes wandered her surroundings without really seeing anything as she considered the possible implications. "That would explain so much," she said at last.

"Well, I wish someone would explain it to me, because all it explains to me is a man I thought was a friend is really some kind of monster who wants to carry a woman off against her will and he wants me to help him do it."

Pam burst into peals of laughter. "Darlin', we're vampires. We're all of us monsters. I thought you knew."

"Not exactly helpful Pam."

"I'm beginning to think Eric sucked your sense of humor out when he drained you," Pam complained. Then she rolled her eyes and forced a dramatic sigh. "Do you know the story of Leonas and Anna?"

"I know what Ausra told me and Eric has filled in a few details here and there."

"Well, as someone who held Leonas' ear for a couple of years back in the early 1800's, I might have some details you haven't heard."

Sookie stared at Pam wide-eyed. "You and Leonas?"

"Don't get too excited. It was a short affair. Eric released me when we left Europe and I hadn't figured out exactly how to be alone yet. Instead, I spent two years listening to Leonas whine about Anna.

No matter what else you might think Sookie, make no mistake, he loves her every bit as much as Eric loves you. You may not know Leonas well, but you know Eric. If you ever need to know what to expect from Leonas, ask yourself what Eric would do in the same situation.

In the 1400's Europe was a very superstitious place. Every bad thing that happened was blamed on someone angering God in some way. So naturally as the plague decimated the population the people who were left were ready to blame it on anyone different. Humans regularly burned one another and when they were able to capture a vampire, that vampire didn't stand a chance.

Leonas and his brother Vincentas traveled together using stealth and teamwork to survive. Then Leonas found Anna. She was a raving mad woman, but she was the most beautiful thing Leonas had ever seen and she had the voice of an angel. He was in love with her from the moment he first heard her first cries from the pile of plague ravaged dead bodies in a cart being hauled to a central fire to be burnt.

As it got close to sunrise they needed to hide, but she would not quiet. Leonas had not had a meal that night, so he drained her thinking he would put her out of his mind, but it was no use. Realizing he could not part with her, be opened his wrist, fed her blood back to her and carried her with him into the ground for the night.

He carried her corpse with him for two nights and on the third she accomplished the change, but she wasn't like others. She didn't seem to realize what had happened to her and he couldn't get her to feed. As sunrise came, she began to panic. She could feel the call to sleep, but she didn't understand it. Leonas feared she would accidentally run out into the sun so he tied her to him. The next night was no better. She endangered them every morning with her screaming and refusal to go to ground willingly.

One night she yanked herself away from Leonas and fell into Vincentas' lap and for some unknown reason she calmed and was quiet. It nearly killed Leonas to see her so close to his brother but as the nights passed it became clear she was only going to be calmed by Vincentas' hand no matter how much Leonas loved her.

And of course there was Nicholas to contend with. Apparently he had died the week before she was turned and she refused to believe he was dead. He had been tall and blond with blue eyes."

"Just like Eric," Sookie whispered.

"Yes. Anyway, the brothers traveled with her now until Leonas couldn't stand it another minute. He couldn't bear to see them together. He wanted her. He loved her. But any time Vincentas tried to leave the two of them alone together she would scream and plead with him to come back to her.

So Leonas made his brother swear he would care for her always and he left for the New World. He went to California, before it was California, to re-establish himself. He struck gold. He became rich. He became a king. Eric is fabulously wealthy. Leonas makes him look like a pauper.

He never stopped thinking about Anna, loving her, obsessing about her. He was determined to find a way to cure her. He founded the Leanne Institute and in order to keep himself from going mad he convinced himself it was her madness which kept her from him and if he could only cure her, she would realize how much he loved her and she would come to him.

When he used to talk about that I always assumed he meant she would come to him of her own free will. We all assumed he had willingly left her with Vincentas. I don't think anyone ever suspected he left her because he literally couldn't take her because she wouldn't go.

And now along comes you, the spunky little girl from Louisiana who stole the heart of the Norseman and turned vampire society upside down. After nearly six hundred years he believes he's found what he's been looking for. He believes you can give him what he wants, what he needs, what he's been waiting for all these long years. He believes you can give him the woman he loves.

He doesn't see it as using you or kidnapping Anna or doing anything wrong. He sees it as finally being able to claim something that's been his all along by rights. He isn't thinking clearly. He can't, not about Anna. All he can see is she's his and he wants her. He isn't going to toss aside six hundred years of pent up desire because human laws say taking a woman against her will is wrong. I'm sure he's convinced she will grow to love him eventually when she sees how much he loves her and how well he can provide for her."

Pam sat back and it was Sookie's turn to stare blankly into the crowd. "And if she doesn't he still won't let her go. He'll keep her forever."

"Or until her rejection drives him mad."

"That's just so sad," Sookie said softly. "I've felt like I was going to die when my love life went soggy for a few days. I can't even imagine living like that for six hundred years. Oh my god. What would that do to you?"

Pam looked as if she was trying to figure out if Sookie was simply having difficulty keeping up or if she was truly a special kind of stupid. "It would make you desperate, and even worse it would make you patient. There is nothing more dangerous or unpredictable than someone who has been patiently waiting for something they are desperate to have and suddenly they can see it. They can sense how close it is. They will stop at nothing and sacrifice everything to get to it."

"It's comforting to know there isn't much on the line," Sookie said, looking out over the crowd and noticing Leonas entering the room, alone.

"Oh good," Pam chimed. "For a minute there I thought it might get dull."

"No such luck," Sookie added as she adjusted her happy Merlotte's waitress smile.

Leonas was on his best behavior tonight, all charm and ease as he came striding to their table and nodding to Pam, "Lovely to see you again, Miss Ravenscroft," before offering Sookie an exaggeratedly deep bow and lifting her hand. "And you are as exquisite as ever, Your Majesty. I find myself in awe that having found two such flowers Eric could bear to risk leaving them at the mercy of ruffians like myself." He kissed her hand and released it at once.

"Are you trying to frighten us, Leonas?" Sookie asked with a sparkling giggle. "What a terrible thing to do after Pam has been telling what a good time a girl can have in your company."

"Has she?" Leonas cast a grin in Pam's direction. "Pam was always high-spirited and adventurous."

He may be a vampire king, but he's clearly no less susceptible to flattery than any other man, Sookie thought. "Yes. I believe I was right on the verge of being jealous when you arrived and interrupted her praises."

He pulled out a chair and sat opposite them. "Unforgivably rude of me to intrude upon so delicate a conversation. I assure you nothing could have induced me to obstruct the imparting of confidences between ladies except my desire to share with you a bit of very happy news."

Sookie frowned and slumped back in her chair. "I should have known when you showed up alone you hadn't come to take us dancing." She looked over her shoulder to Pandora, Belladonna, Shana and Karen. "You see how he is? He accepts an invitation to join us for an evening of entertainment and dancing and he not only comes alone, but says he only came to give us a news report."

Sookie sighed heavily and returned her attention to Leonas. "Well now that you can see how disappointed we all are, I guess you better tell us your happy news. Maybe it will perk up our mood."

"I certainly hope so," Leonas said with an expectant smile. "Following your most compassionate advice, I tasked my second in command, Raoul Soldato, with finding our dear Nora's maker."

Sookie's waitressing experience stood her in good stead, as she was able to prevent her face from betraying her as she listened attentively without allowing anything to filter through to her expression.

"And what do you think?" Leonas asked as he clasped his hands together.

"He found him?" Sookie asked, raising her tone just a tad. "That's fantastic! How soon can he be here?" She leaned toward Leonas to emphasize her pretended excitement at the prospect of meeting Richard Markel so soon.

"Sadly, my news is not quite so joyous. However Raoul tells me he expects to locate Mr. Markel very soon. He was seen in Florida within the last month and he is believed to still be in that area. Raoul has a small army of people participating in the search. It shouldn't be long now."

"That is good news," Sookie said, broadening her smile as much as possible. "We should celebrate."

"I couldn't agree more," Leonas concurred. He reached into his breast pocket and removed his cell phone. He flipped it open with a flourish and pushed two numbers. "Leave two guards with Dr. Buxton and Nora's attendants. The rest of you come over to The Asgard. Tell the hostess you are expected by the queen's party at," He held the phone out and looked to Sookie for direction.

"The Raven's Nest," Sookie said.

Leonas repeated her into the phone, snapped it shut and returned it to his pocket with a chuckle. "I would not have expected an ode to Poe in a place called The Asgard."

"And you won't find one here," Sookie answered. "Odin was often followed by ravens. So naturally they would have a nest near him."

"Naturally," Leonas agreed with a smile. He stood and glanced between Sookie and Pam. "Dare I hope I may entice each of you to adorn an arm? Or are my aspirations too lofty?"

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Thalia slipped silently into Eric's office and stood motionless in a corner as he concluded the call he was taking.

"Good evening, Thalia," he said upon hanging up his phone. "I trust you are well."

"I am well, my lord, and ready to be of service."

"Excellent. I have received an urgent communication informing me of someone being escorted here. I will need their party to be intercepted."

"And killed?"

"No, Thalia. It is not your skill as an assassin I wish to employ. It is your discretion and ability to go unnoticed which are most valuable to me for this assignment. You are to take extraordinary care for no harm to come to any person in the party you are intercepting. You are charged with receiving them and delivering them safely to the Orthopedic Hospital at Shreve General.

Once there you will share custody of them and responsibility for them with the queen's guard Oliver Mayer."

"As you command my lord."

"Tomorrow night you will go to Jacksonville, Florida."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Leonas and Pam returned from the dance floor just as Leonas' guards arrived, thus assuring dance partners for everyone in Sookie's party.

Pam cast appraising glances at the guards and extended a hand to Belladonna. "Sorry boys, but this one's taken," Pam purred as Belladonna beamed and took her hand.

Leonas laughed softly as everyone watched them strut to the dance floor. "Shall we join them?" he asked, his hand outstretched. I would hate for you to be a wallflower."

"No, we couldn't have that, could we?" Sookie answered with a snort. She stood and gave him a nod before taking his hand and following him to the shadowed floor.

The Raven's Nest was designed to feel as if it had mysteriously sprouted from nothing, in the midst of a lonely forest, on a cold winter evening. Bare tree branches lined with stuffed ravens protruded from the walls over each booth and at odd intervals throughout the club.

Blue and grey lighting set behind the branches cast eerie shadows across the floor and furniture. Strips of tiny red lights ran along the floor marking the major pathways to the bars, the dance floor and the restrooms. And raven caws, coming from strategically placed hidden speakers could be heard sporadically from anywhere in the place.

"What would you be doing now if I had declined your invitation to come dancing this evening?" Leonas asked in the middle of their third dance.

"I suppose I would be dancing either with Pam or one of my ladies and the others would have had to find their own partners, but it wouldn't have been difficult for them," she said with a pleasant smile.

On the other hand, Leonas' smile made Sookie think of alligators for some reason, like he was biding his time waiting to pull her under the water and snap her in two.

"I'm thrilled we had the opportunity to be of service to you and your ladies," he said.

Sookie looked Leonas directly in the eyes and made no attempt to hide her irritation. "If you think my invitation for you to join us tonight was to make sure we had dance partners, you're dead wrong. When the guards don't discourage it, a line forms for the pleasure of dancing with any of us. If you thought you were on a rescue mission, I apologize for dragging you away from whatever it is you'd rather be doing, but by all means go back to it!"

She shook his hand off her arm and flounced back to their table. When he followed, spouting a trail of apologies as he did, she refused to meet his eye.

"You must forgive me, Sookie. Considering the tenor of our initial meeting after my arrival, naturally when you offered your company I assumed you did so as a diversionary tactic at the behest of your king."

Sookie could see he was looking for a reaction. He hasn't gotten it yet or he wouldn't keep looking at me like this. I must be playing this right so far, she thought. Convinced she was holding onto the upper hand she simply scowled at him.

Leonas appeared to cast about for something to say. "I trust you will understand I was left with no choice but to have him watched this evening."

"Your choices make no difference to me. I'm really sorry to disappoint you, but asking you to join us was my idea. I hadn't discussed it with Eric at all. And to my knowledge he doesn't use my company as a diversion for anyone but himself. I am his queen, not a prostitute.

As for having him watched, I hope for the sake of whoever you have watching him he's doing something less dull than usual. I've watched him work on several occasions and I've been bored out of my mind every time."

How strange, she thought when she realized she wasn't worried about Eric being watched. She had been saying for quite some time now she trusted him and here was the proof of it. She knew he would have prepared for this. He would at least suspect he was being watched. Whatever Leonas' spies saw, they would see only what Eric wanted them to see.

"Sookie, my dear, let us not allow this political disagreement disturb our evening. Shall we have another dance?"

"Political disagreement? I didn't realize we were having a political disagreement. I thought our problems all revolved around Nora. Did she hold some political position in California before her house burned down?"

I've won she thought. He's trying to placate me. Of course vying for who had the upper hand on a surrogate date night wasn't an important battle, but it was enough to tell her he could be beaten. She remembered something the Ambassador had said to her the night he left Ausra and Saule at Fangtasia. "Any woman who holds sway with a king is a fearsome and powerful force to be reckoned with. Remember that." This was what power felt like. If so little felt so good, no wonder Eric and Leonas were so cocky. They must be positively drunk with it all the time.

"Fair enough," Leonas was saying. He took out his cell and made a call. "Drop the surveillance. There's nothing more to be seen tonight. – Drop it. Go back to the room or to the casino." He tucked the phone back in his pocket and spread his hands, palms up, as if to make a peace offering. "No more watchdog. Can we be friends again now?"

Sookie made a production of sighing heavily and looking up at him from beneath her lashes as if his charms had worn her down. She raised her hand and said softly, "I suppose I could stand one more dance."

Before their dance had ended she felt Eric enter the club. She hadn't realized until she felt him, how much spending this time with Leonas had made her miss him and wish he'd been at her side. She smiled as she felt him approach. Just then Leonas spun her.

Without missing a beat Eric caught her, right out of Leonas' arms, as she turned and faced him in mid-spin. "Good evening, my love," he said with a stunning grin. Then nodding, he said, "Leonas, if I may."

Leonas returned the nod and left the dance floor chuckling.

Eric lifted her off the floor and held her tight as he swayed to the music for both of them. "I couldn't bear for him to have it," he whispered into her ear.

"Have what?"

"My smile, the one which lights up your face when you feel me near. I could not allow him to look into your face and find that smile smiling back at him. It is mine alone. I shall never share it."


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

.

As they danced, Eric noticed Leonas sitting at their table, gleefully smiling into his phone. After hearing him cut loose with a boisterous laugh which managed to be heard by everyone, over the din of the crowd and the sound system, Eric smiled a sly smile and whispered to Sookie. "Let the games begin."

"Begin? Didn't we already do that?" she whispered back.

"We have made it through the elimination match-ups, my love. The final rounds are now upon us. It seems the dance has moved to the table. Shall we?"

They stopped dancing and Eric led her to the table. When he had installed her at the opposite side of the table from Leonas, he pulled another chair close to her and sat, holding her hand to his lips, covering it absently with tiny kisses. With his free hand he gestured for a waitress.

"Three bottles of Royalty," Eric said to the girl when she arrived. Then he waved her away.

"What's the occasion?" Leonas asked. The grin on his face stretched it to hideous proportions.

"You tell me, my friend," Eric countered. "Sookie and I couldn't help but notice the enthusiasm with which you received your recent phone call. I assume this means your caller either had something enormously entertaining to say or he bore very good news. Since I assume you would surely have shared such an entertainment by now, I am left to believe you received good news. Congratulations, Leonas. News which brings such happiness is a rare occurrence and should be celebrated. Do you not agree?"

"I do indeed," Leonas agreed as his eyes slithered to Sookie. "And I'm certain your lovely bride will be happy to learn Richard Markel has been located in Orlando, Florida. It seems he's been trying to drown his sorrows among the happy families visiting the amusement park capital of the country."

"There, you see, my love," Eric said with a squeeze. "Did I not express my admiration and confidence in Leonas' trackers. Fears are unnecessary when tasks are left in competent hands." To Leonas, Eric said, "I suppose the late hour and the time difference will make it impossible for Mr. Markel to join us tonight, but I shall be happy to have the staff prepare him a room near your suite. I assume he will be with us tomorrow night?"

"Possibly," Leonas answered. "He has only just been located. My people have not actually been in contact with him yet, so possibly late tomorrow evening, but more likely the following. The important thing is he has been found. My people will talk to him and see if he is still interested in Nora." He leaned back in his chair with a satisfied expression. "Yes, I think a bottle of Royalty might be called for."

"What if he isn't interested?" Sookie asked.

"I am not so powerful I can force a vampire to be interested in the woman if he isn't. I can offer him the opportunity to be here. If he refuses do you want him dragged here kicking and screaming?" Leonas' eyes were boring into her as if waiting for her to flinch.

"Of course not," she spat back. "I didn't realize what I wanted had much to do with how people were treated in our little experiment, but as long as you're offering, I don't want any vampire dragged off anywhere against their will, whether they're kicking and screaming or not." Sookie felt Eric's hold on her tighten, though she could see from the corner of her eye, his expression had not changed.

Leonas froze for the slightest of seconds, and though his lips remained curled upward, his grin took on a menacing edge and the twinkle in his eyes became brilliant. "I assure you, Your Majesty, I am a law abiding man. These things must be handled delicately. We are not kidnappers after all, and we are dealing with fellow vampires, not shifters."

Eric's arm was like an implacable steel bar surrounding her. There was no way she could move without causing a scene. Though his face and posture gave away nothing. He gave every appearance of being completely bored and disinterested in the conversation between Leonas and Sookie. Then he abruptly interjected his opinion.

"Sookie has not yet received any formal training in the law. She has sat in and contributed her opinions to domestic complaints when I was Sheriff of this Area. She has also passed judgment in the case of a trouble-making pet. However, as you are well aware, within the confines of this kingdom there is only one law which need concern her.

As chosen Queen of the realm, her word is law and can be countermanded only by the King. As I am king and highly unlikely to reverse any edict she wishes to issue, this kingdom and everyone in it may find themselves subject to her whims and fancies if it pleases her. In light of this fact, it might behoove them to avoid provoking her."

Leonas only stared in response as Eric stood and smiled lovingly down at Sookie. "Shall we have another dance before retiring for the evening, my love?"

Leonas glared at Eric and Sookie as they glided around the dance floor. The Norseman and his chosen enjoying a life Eric had never even shown any curiosity about, let alone interest in having for himself. This was the life Leonas longed for yet was forever relegated to watching.

"Funny how they do that, isn't it?" Pam asked without moving.

She'd always had the disconcerting habit of going completely motionless until she seemed to simply become part of the furniture. Then she'd say something out of the blue, often shattering the nerves of nearby humans.

"I'm not sure I know what you're talking about," Leonas responded.

"The way they disappear, right in the middle of the crowd. Look at them. They could be here, or out in the street or in their bedroom and it wouldn't make a bit of difference. When they're together, they're alone in their own world. I wonder how that feels?"

"If it feels like it looks," Leonas said, "it is much to be envied."

As the pounding music pushed through the sound system, filling every inch of the club. Eric kept Sookie close to him, never losing physical contact. "Our guest does not appear to be enjoying himself quite so much as before," Eric said with a satisfied smirk. "And Pam's company does not seem to be improving his mood."

"Don't get cocky," Sookie warned. "In the movies things always take a bad turn when someone gets too cocky."

Eric's laughter boomed through the room, erasing any questions there may have been in anyone's mind about who was the center of attention. "By all means, let us not expose ourselves to the wrath of the powerful gods of cinema. To whom does one make offerings of apology and recompense for one's offenses?"

Sookie was unable to keep a straight face, but she managed to sputter, "Probably Steven Spielberg," before dissolving into giggles.

"This is how I would wish you to always be," he said, scooping her into his arms and spinning. "Ever happy and laughing."

Leonas had had enough of watching the happy couple. He was about to rise to leave when his phone rang again. "Yes – Excellent news – Is he? – Is that necessary if I am to visit? – Of course – At present I am visiting the Louisiana court, though I can make arrangements to cut my visit short to receive His Grace in California. – Whatever will be most convenient, I look forward to hearing of His Grace's final plans."

Pam watched as Leonas shoved his phone back into his breast pocket. He was deep in thought. His plans were changing even as he sat there. "Not bad news, I hope," Pam said, but her voice lacked the necessary tone to pull it off. She never had been particularly good at sympathy and concern.

"You should avoid pleasant chit chat, Pam. It doesn't suit you."

"If I avoided everything that didn't suit me, I'd never have any fun," she replied with a grin.

Leonas gave her a dramatic nod as he rose. "I intended no impediment to your amusement, my dear."

"Are you leaving us, Leonas?" Eric lowered Sookie to the floor as Leonas met his gaze.

"I have many calls to make in preparation for our expected guest … as well as for one who was unexpected until only a moment ago."

"I hope you were not making plans to receive guests without notice. I would hate for any friend of yours to be detained, or worse, due to their visit being unannounced."

"That would be a pity, indeed," Leonas replied. "For as luck would have it, he is a friend of yours as well."

"Is he? And who is this friend?"

Before Leonas could answer, Eric's cell phone rang. Leonas smiled and said, "I imagine that would be his announcement call. I'll leave you to him." To Sookie he added, "I hope you're as excited as I am at the prospect of meeting Mr. Markel tomorrow evening. Until tomorrow." He proffered a deep bow and left the club.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Anna Maria Vitskya was known for her long golden-brown hair and her almost too perfect, clear pale skin. Her skin is what got her recommended for this job. That and her height, she was 177cm, slightly over five foot nine. That meant she wouldn't need to be put in extremely high shoes in order to be a pretty close physical match to Lady Anna.

Ruta, who had served as Anna's personal hairdresser and cosmetician, as well as dresser and close confidante for the last two hundred years, walked in slow circles around Anna Maria, examining every feature, every curve of her body. From the disapproving sneers it was clear Ruta considered Anna Maria to be a lesser creature than her beloved Lady Anna.

Having to dampen the perfection which was her mistress until she could pass for this common vampire, would be the most painful task she had ever been prevailed upon to do. Yet King Vincentas himself, had personally come to Lady Anna's dressing chamber to speak with her. He assured her Lady Anna's very life could well depend on the results Ruta was able to achieve tonight. With the determination and love of a master artisan, she set about her work.

"My Lady's bosom is fuller, but she can be bound into smaller garments. Her hips are a bit more rounded as well, but there's nothing to be done about that on such short notice. If both ladies wear either full skirts or loose fitting pants, I believe they will pass, as long as they are seen side by side."

"I don't believe the plan calls for them to be seen side by side," Ausra said.

"What about the hair and eyes?" Ambassador Tumim asked.

Ruta looked up at him as if he were some sort of idiot she had just caught drooling in her make-up pots. "I assume you are not here to consult me on matters of State?"

"Excuse me?"

"It would be a complete waste of time on your part. I know nothing on the subject. However I am led to believe you are quite the expert on international affairs of government. In future let us agree that I shall leave you to your area of expertise and you will leave me to mine. Now, if you would be good enough to remove yourself to some other part of the palace, in a few hours I will deliver to you two women who will pass for twins on any stage."

When the Ambassador had gone, Ruta took a deep breath and told Anna Maria to get down from the low platform she'd been standing on. "Ausra, I believe the best way to explain this to Anna is to tell her we're playing a game. She likes games, she can be diverted for hours and hours by them. She once spent an entire long winter evening in a hedge labyrinth. We finally had to drug a glass of blood in order to get her out before sunrise.

"What game shall I tell her we're playing? A look alike game obviously, but once they match won't she expect the game to be over?"

"A collection game," Ruta said. "She must collect twenty people who call her by the name Anna Maria, rather than Lady Anna. My Lady will have fun with that I believe. She must not be frightened. Always remember, she appears to be as frail as she is beautiful, but never forget she is a six hundred year old vampire. Not knowing her strength does not prevent her having it.

"Lady Anna and I have always gotten on very well, even she was not herself. Kind and quiet words will usually calm her fairly quickly. And not touching her, as I recall she doesn't care to be touched when she is in the midst of an episode."

Ruta put a hand on Ausra's arm. "It is such a relief to me you are here, that it will be you, someone she trusts, taking her to America. Take good care of her, Ausra. She has been a pawn between these two kings for long enough."

"Do not fear for her, Ruta. You know I will defend her with my life and The Norseman's queen is her friend. She is not without protection."

"And here is my lady now," Ruta announced as Anna entered the room.

Anna was very happy to see Ausra again. When she first saw Ausra she shouted, "I remember you!" Ausra had been one of her favorite ladies for years. "How lovely to see you again, Ausra. So often people go away from here and they never come back."

She was also fascinated by the transformation taking place in her chamber. She'd never had her hair dyed before. The smell was awful, but she found the waiting for the change to be very exciting. She wondered how much Ruta would be able to make her look like Anna Maria. She'd seen Anna Maria at court before. She was sometimes in the company of Ambassador Tumim and sometimes she was with other men. She was very popular.

At one point, when Ruta had left to go in search of more nail polish and they were alone together, Anna leaned in close and whispered, "Do you suppose when I look like Anna Maria the men at court will be attracted to me?"

"My lady, every man at court is attracted to you," Ausra said.

"They all stare at me, but they stare at the dogs when they run through as well, and even fewer of them speak to me than speak to the dogs." Then the sad, sullen tone vanished from her voice as she gushed, "I've seen Anna Maria at court before when she was surrounded by men talking to her. And ladies too, all happy and laughing."

"Perhaps if you began the conversation yourself people would speak to you more easily. As the famous and beautiful wife of the King, I'm sure anyone would be thrilled to speak to you. I know I have always found you very pleasant to speak with."

"Am I famous?" Anna asked sounding as if she found the prospect of being famous ridiculous and maybe even a bit scary. He leaned in so close Ausra thought she might choke from the fumes from the hair dye. "Why? Why am I famous? What did I do? I don't remember."

Ausra saw a shiver run through Anna's body and prepared herself for what would come next. "You are known by all as the beloved wife of King Vincentas. This is reason enough to be famous."

Anna backed away, her eyes darting around the room as if she was struggling to recognize her surroundings. "But I was promised. My father said he promised me. He said I was to marry." She reached up to grab her head. "Where is this place? Is it time for the wedding already?"

Ausra quickly put a hand near Anna's hair and when Anna's hand touched it she flinched away. "Lady Anna, it's alright."

"No. No it can't be alright, not now. Mother is ill and father is, father is, oh no." She was standing now, sheer panic in her eyes as she slowly backed away from Ausra. "I have to find Nicholas!"

As Anna turned to head for the door Ausra dropped to her knees and slammed her hands down flat on the floor in front of her. "Anna!" Ausra lifted her left hand and brought it down again hard on the floor. Anna froze and watched as Ausra continued beating a slow rhythm on the hard tiled floor.

When it was clear Anna was no longer going to flee, Ausra repeated her name. Anna watched Ausra's hand intently as it rose and fell with loud slaps, again and again. After a minute Anna took a step toward Ausra.

When she had taken two more steps, Ausra slowed the tempo a little, mainly because each strike of her hand had become quite painful. This was so much easier when the floor was carpeted or you could do it on a wall. Walls seemed to make a louder, more reverberating sound with less effort.

Then Ruta burst through the door. She took in the bizarre looking scene before her with a gasp. Anna's attention was momentarily taken from Ausra who compensated with a double slap and softly calling her name again. When Anna's gaze returned to Ausra's left hand, she briefly held her right palm to Ruta.

Over the course of the next few minutes Anna came to sit on the floor in front of Ausra and she held up her own hand, palm facing Ausra. At this point Ausra stopped slapping the floor and began gently tapping her hand to Anna's as if they were playing a children's game. Eventually Anna smiled. It was only then Ausra stopped. "That was fun," Ausra said. "Perhaps we can rest now?"

With the episode over, Ruta took Anna, washed her hair and put her a warm scented tub. Leaving the bathroom door open, Ruta came back to Ausra. "That was amazing. How did you know to do it?"

"It's something Saule discovered. You know how she constantly plays concentration games with herself? They're mostly repetition and she said when you're concentrating on something you can't really do anything else effectively. She noticed when Lady Anna stared at the portrait of The Norseman what she was doing was concentrating and Saule figured that was why she calmed.

So she started trying to find other things for Anna to concentrate on when she became agitated. Then one day someone tripped just as Anna was going into an episode. It got her attention, but only for a second or two. That's what the slapping does. It holds her attention after the initial fall. You can drop to the floor or slam yourself against a wall. Either will work as long as it's loud. Then you need to be as still as possible except for one hand, and you simply slap the floor or wall in rhythm. She'll just stare for a while, but then she'll come to you and hold up her hand. Then you can touch her and she's alright, but if you stop slapping the floor or the wall before she lets you touch her, she'll revert right back to her episode.

It's very loud and unseemly, so it isn't something to be done in public. I'm not sure His Majesty would approve of seeing her led around so."

"No, I don't believe he would," Ruta agreed. "It was quite shocking to see her in such a state. She looked as if she'd been hypnotized and you, well you looked quite uncivilized. It would never do for that to be repeated publicly. But in private it was a marvel. Thank you for describing the process to me."

"Hopefully you will never have to use it," Ausra said.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Eric closed his phone and grinned. "I believe this calls for celebration, my love. Shall we go home where we may share something more appetizing than Royalty. You might allow me the long promised taste of your favorite snack. We could partake together and see if I find her as invigorating as you do."

"You seem plenty invigorated," Sookie laughed. "What's going on?"

Eric raised an eyebrow at her. "I begin to suspect you want this girl for more than snacking. I am well aware of your fondness for musicians."

"Oh yes, and harp players especially. It must be all that plucking that turns me on. You better keep me away from any chicken farmers."

"Mental note. No chicken farmers. Got it. Now, back to your harpist."

"Oh, you two are more fun than Fangtasia after a college football game," Pam injected. "Are you always like this? I may have to move to Valhalla."

Completely ignoring Pam, Sookie said, "You walk me home and tell me about your phone call on the way and if I enjoy the story, I'll reward you with a taste of Karen."

"And what if I thirst for something I do not want from Karen?" he teased.

"Then you better hope that was a really interesting phone call," Sookie answered with a wink.

"And then you go and ruin it by sinking right back into the mush," Pam complained as she flopped back into her chair. "Just as well. I never liked moving anyway."

"Good night Pam," Sookie said. "See you tomorrow?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. Tomorrow night's the big show, right?"

"Well, I wouldn't count on fireworks if I was you, but I'll probably be put to the test tomorrow. See you then." Sookie smiled at Pam, then turned her attention back to Eric. "As for you, you still have tonight to get through. Let's hear about that call."

Sookie took the arm he offered and they casually made their way through the casino and outside, away from the noise.

"The phone call you saw was for Leonas' benefit, my love. He had received a call a few minutes prior, while we were dancing, from Ambassador Tumim's office requesting a meeting. It seems our dear friend Leonas has requested permission to visit his brother's kingdom during his forthcoming visit to Europe."

"He's already planning a trip to Europe? When?"

"It seems he has great faith in your talents, my love. His request was for next week."

"He was just going to blast off over there and what? Drag her back? How did he plan to do that?"

"I believe we may safely assume his plan was for you to be in his party. Which can only mean his plan involves me being bound in silver someplace he controls, so he has something to threaten you with to force you to release Anna."

"He couldn't hide you from Pam. God only knows what she'd do if you were being held."

"I'm sure Leonas has a fairly clear picture of what Pam would do. No doubt her final death is to be coordinated with my capture and your subjugation." Eric paused to give her time to absorb everything he was saying.

"You're certainly taking all this pretty well. Most people would be a little rattled if they thought they were about to be taken prisoner while their child was murdered and their wife was carted off to another continent to be forced into slavery or who knows what."

"I should certainly hope so, Dearest. What a bleak picture you paint. I assure you, if I thought that was about to happen I would be more than a little rattled."

"But you just said,"

"I said I believed that to be Leonas' plan. I hope you do not assume I am without plans of my own?"

Sookie scoffed and looked up at him. "And you think your plans are better."

"Naturally," he said smugly. "In my experience, my love, there is no merit in having inferior plans. I have always found if you cannot come up with a superior plan, you are better off with no plan at all. Better to improvise than to try and make an ill-conceived course of action work.

As it is, in full view of Leonas' spies, all the details have been worked out. Tomorrow night Richard Markel will be brought here and you will have your meeting with Nora. You have captured the curiosity of more than Leonas, my love. Many of us are awaiting your experiment with great interest.

Following your brilliant success, I believe we may expect conversation to turn to Anna within a short time. If he had planned to make his move immediately he would have requested an earlier visit to Lithuania. I am confident his plans do not turn to force for at least two days after your meeting with Nora. He will want to make a last effort at obtaining our willing cooperation.

The Ambassador requesting an audience here has forestalled his plans. He cannot have the Ambassador arrive and not find the royal family in residence. The phone call to me was intentionally placed immediately after the call to Leonas so he would see it and know the Ambassador has spoken to me and expects to find me here when he arrives."

"How do you know all this? I thought we couldn't call them?"

"As it turns out, Devon Bradford is an exceptionally skilled warlock. I grow more fond of him daily.

I conducted my business tonight with my office door open. Thus making it easier for Leonas' spies to keep track of who came and went. Mingled with the normal business meetings and calls were several autograph seekers. As you know, they are also a normal part of business."

"They come to your office?" Sookie asked. It had never occurred to her he was annoyed in his office too. She thought they only surrounded him when he came out into the casino. "I guess that's the down side to not being hidden down a hallway behind the bar."

"There are advantages as well. At any rate, occasionally, one of these autograph seekers was sent by Mr. Bradford, who had cast a spell for them to deliver a message as they requested their autograph. I would hear the message, give the autograph and issue my answer. The messenger would then return to him. As he was using random tourists, a different one each time, there was no reason to suspect any of them and no way for any of them to have been targeted for surveillance beforehand.

Mr. Bradford was sitting in Pam's office in Fangtasia most of the evening making and receiving calls. With Pam here under Leonas' personal observance, there was no reason for her office to be watched."

"Wow. That sounds so complicated, but when you think about it, it's really so simple."

"No need for elaborate bows when a knot will suffice, my love. Embellishments only serve to provide additional opportunities for error."

"Wow," Sookie repeated. "You've been busy."

"And I save the best for last!" he announced proudly.

"There's more?"

"There is always more, my love," he whispered with a dead sexy grin. "But we will get to that later. In the mean time, the only closed door meeting I held tonight was with Thalia."

"So they'd be sure to notice."

"I adore that you catch on so quickly." He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Richard Markel has been found in Orlando, Florida. So I sent her to Jacksonville. The fact I sent her to Florida will make anyone following her believe she was sent to look for Markel or possibly to intercept him. When she heads north, if she still has anyone following, they will likely leave her. Leonas is not one to waste resources."

"Why would she head north? Where is she really going?"

"Atlanta to receive our special guest. The Ambassador will arrive via chartered plane and will be accommodated at Valhalla. Ausra will come via commercial flight and end in Atlanta. She will be bringing Anna with her. Thalia will bring them here and put them in the rooms across from Mina at Shreve General."

"Eric is that safe for her?"

"It will be as safe as we can make it, Dearest. Until this is over, there is no place truly safe for her. I trusted Thalia with my treasure. I have assured Vincentas he may trust her with his."

Sookie thought of Thalia and Ausra. They would both defend her to the death if need be. She almost pitied anyone who went up against Thalia. She was tiny, but lightning fast and she loved nothing better than the opportunity to rip someone's heart out of their chest. It didn't even seem to matter to her what race they were, human, vampire, she'd probably even enjoy weres or shifters. Yes, Anna would be as safe as they could make her.

As they entered Valhalla and approached the elevators, a thought occurred to Sookie. When the door opened Eric held it aside for Sookie to enter, but she didn't.

"Eric will you do something for me?"

"Anything, my love. What do you want?"

"You go on up and leave me here."

Eric looked down at her. Questions filled his eyes but he did not speak them. He stepped into the elevator and turned around to face her. "Are you to follow?" he said at last, still holding the door.

"Yes. When you reach the top, I want you to summon me."

"Sookie, we agreed I would never do that to you. I would have you with me by choice."

Sookie smiled nervously and put a hand on his chest. "I want to know what it feels like. I want to know what Leonas wants to do to Anna. You're the only one who can show me this, my darling."

"Which is good, because I would kill any other who had this power over you."

"Will you do it? This once?"

"Stand back," he said as he released the door, allowing it to close.

Sookie stood in the lobby feeling silly.

Suddenly she felt the strangest feeling, as if a ghost had reached through her stomach and grabbed her spine and was trying to tug at her. It wasn't painful, it was just weird. She stood there experiencing the feeling and gradually the pull became stronger, more urgent. The ghost was getting stronger. She was surprised she was able to stand there without her body being pulled about.

Then there was a small cramp low in her back. That was enough, she wasn't going to stand here any longer and wait for the cramping to worsen. She pushed the button for the elevator.

He was waiting for her when the elevator opened on the top floor and she flung herself into his arms. He picked her up and held her tight.

"You waited. Everyone does the first time. We all want to see if we can resist. We can't for very long. It doesn't let up. It increases until we capitulate. Eventually we all reach a level of pain we cannot tolerate."

"Eric, please don't ever do that to me again."

"Nothing but the most dire emergency could induce me to subject you to such a feeling of pain and servitude. I am your servant, my love, never the reverse."

AN:

My apologies for this chapter being so late. I was distracted for a few days by writing a sample fic for the I Write The Songs Contest. I'm putting a link here, but FFn is kind of hit and miss for what links they will or will not allow to come through. It's called You Wildest Dreams and I'm really pleased with it. If you'd like to have a look you can follow the link below (if it shows up) or you can click on my name and be taken to my profile where you can find it. It is the last story listed.

Thank you, my darlings!

.net/s/6327309/1/Your_Wildest_Dreams


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

.

When Eric and Sookie entered the penthouse they were met by the animated laughs and cheers of their household, who were watching an intense Wii tennis match between Heller and Genevieve.

"Silly me, I figured they would all be in bed by now," Sookie said with a smile. She so enjoyed watching them have a good time. She tugged at Eric's hand and led him to an unoccupied sofa, guiding him to sit in the center.

Having deposited him, she kissed his palm and went over to the center of activity. She placed a hand on Karen's shoulder. "Come with me," she whispered.

Karen responded at once. She offered Sookie a bright smile and banged into Genevieve as she crawled off her perch behind Genevieve, on the back of the sofa.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Sookie laughed as everyone but Heller groaned when Genevieve lost the point and the game.

"Two out of three!" Genevieve challenged.

Heller was about to agree when he noticed Sookie was leading Karen to Eric. "Let's all grab a snack and something to drink first," he suggested.

Pandora and Genevieve grudgingly got up and headed to the kitchen. Shana remained seated. Heller extended his hand to Shana. "Come on."

"Oh, no thanks," Shana said with a friendly smile. "I'm trying to cut out late night snacks."

He reached down and grabbed her hand. "Come to the kitchen," he said in a low, even voice. He glanced to the other sofa. Sookie had seated Karen to Eric's right, as close to the arm of the sofa, and consequently as far from Eric as possible. She was untying the ribbon Karen always wore around her wrist.

"Now," Heller said to Shana as he practically yanked her off the sofa and led her quickly to the kitchen, herding the others to the back of the room when he got there.

Only Pandora seemed to realize the problem. "Should I get a neutral donor?"

Heller looked intently at Genevieve and Shana. "Has she shared her pets with him before? Karen especially?"

"I don't think the master has fed from Karen, if that's what you mean," Genevieve whispered. She wasn't sure why she was whispering, but something in Heller's expression told her whispers were called for.

"Go!" Heller hissed to Pandora and she bolted. To Genevieve and Shana he said, "Do not move from this spot until they've gone to their suite."

"Heller, what is it?" Genevieve asked. He was scaring her.

He smiled for her and patted her shoulder reassuringly. "I'm not sure exactly. Either she's giving him a gift or he's testing her control. Stay here. Will you make me a sandwich? I'm hungry."

"Sure."

Pandora came back into the apartment with a middle-aged man. Heller met them at the door. "Go into the kitchen with the others," he instructed Pandora. She complied at once.

Eric had Karen's wrist held to his mouth with his right hand and had his left arm around Sookie's waist. She was on the sofa, on her knees to his left, watching.

Ferdinand sauntered over to Heller and the donor with a wicked grin on his face. "If I ever decide to take on pets of my own I know where to send them for training. You're an impressive group."

Heller bowed his head to Ferdinand. "You do us honor, sir."

"Would you like me to glamour him for you?" Ferdinand asked.

Heller looked up at him. "Thank you, yes."

Ferdinand told the donor he would not be afraid of anything he saw or anything happening here tonight. Having done that, he simply turned back to face the sofa.

Sookie was counting in her head to help her stay calm. Karen was hers. Hers. Eric didn't even seem to be enjoying her. He was only drinking. How was that possible? Karen was delicious! She was irritated, but his hand stroking her hip helped her keep her cool.

And then Karen moved.

Her right hand had been resting on the arm of the sofa as Eric fed from her left. Without even thinking about it, she raised her right hand. There was something so different about the feeling of Eric's mouth on her wrist. She'd never felt the desire to respond to Sookie's touch like this. She felt herself leaning slightly to her left as she moved her hand. She was going to touch his face.

Sookie's eyes were like saucers and fixated on Karen's hand. If Karen touched him, he would be the last person she ever touched.

Heller ran to the end of the sofa as quickly as he could, dragging the donor with him.

Someone was growling, a low rumbling sound filled with menace and deadly threats. A vague thought crossed Sookie's mind that she should be afraid. She glanced around the room trying to determine the source of the sound. She was startled to realize it was her.

Now it was Karen who was wild-eyed. Heller reached up and snatched her wayward hand and brought it down beside the sofa where he knelt with his head bowed low. He did not let go of her hand.

Eric released Karen's wrist and pulled Sookie into his lap. "I love it when you are dangerous," he said before he kissed her. His mouth was still filled with the taste of Karen's blood and Sookie attacked it voraciously.

Heller removed Karen from the sofa and replaced her with the donor before taking her to the kitchen with the others.

When all taste of Karen had been sucked or licked from Eric's mouth, Sookie lifted her head and stared into his eyes. "Again." Her voice was low and thick with desire. She looked at the man with the glazed over eyes seated where Karen had been. Her eyes darted around, landing on Heller. "Where is she?"

"Take this, Dearest."

Sookie turned back to Eric. He had bitten the man's wrist and was offering it to her. She started to refuse out of sheer stubbornness, but the open wound Eric had created on the donor's wrist was bleeding. She took his offering before allowing a single drop to be wasted. He wasn't as yummy as Karen, but he was here and she needed strength if she was going to do half the things she wanted to do to Eric before sunrise.

As if he had read her mind, she felt Eric's hand slide behind her and grab her ass, pulling her tight against him. "Open your eyes, lover," he whispered.

When she opened her eyes, Eric had the donor's other wrist held right at her eye level. He bit immediately, sending a jolt of heat ricocheting through her. She responded by taking a deep draw and she saw Eric smiling at her, his eyes waiting. She recognized what he was waiting for the moment it hit her. She tasted him, through the blood of this human.

He retracted his fangs for a moment. "Stop sucking and let the blood pool in your mouth."

She did as he said and waited. Eric bit into the man's wrist again and sucked hard. A few seconds later Sookie felt the blood in her mouth being drawn back through her fangs and into the man. A moment later Eric closed his eyes and moaned slightly as the flavor of her touched his tongue. He allowed a puddle of blood to form in his mouth and waited for the sensation of her drawing it back.

He hadn't done this in decades, centuries maybe. It was a common trick for seducing recently turned vampires, or at least he assumed it was still common. It was so easy surely it hadn't gone out of fashion. This game of blood tug-of-war had always been a titillating bit of fun to toss into foreplay with another vamp, but now with Sookie, his bonded, his chosen; if there were words to describe it he couldn't imagine what they were.

The back and forth didn't last for long. They were both so aroused they were practically having sex right there, fully clothed on a sofa in the living room in full view of everyone in attendance.

Sookie broke first. She let go of the wrist she was holding and grabbed Eric's face with both hands. "Drop it."

She didn't have to tell him twice. In an instant their mouths were locked together, her arms and legs were wound around him and he was taking them to their suite. As he paused to enter the security code into the keypad, Sookie peered into the kitchen as her pets looked curiously back at her. Karen looked away when Sookie briefly met her eye. She'd deal with her later. She had more pressing things on her mind at present.

"It's never dull around here. I'll give you that much," Ferdinand said with a chuckle as he exited the apartment for the night.

"What the hell just happened?" Genevieve demanded the moment all the vampires had left the main part of the penthouse.

"I think I better leave," Karen whimpered. "I have a feeling I'll be kicked out come sunset anyway."

"No," Heller said, taking a step toward Karen. "Don't run, not if you want to stay."

"Are you kidding? You saw the look on her face. She'll tear me to pieces if she sees me again." Karen wrapped her arms around herself and looked as though she was about to cry.

"Not unless she sees you touching the master," Heller answered her. "She won't hurt you. You're her favorite."

"I thought Mina was her favorite?"

Heller laughed. "She loves Mina best. Mina is her friend, but she doesn't feed from her. She likes your blood best. That gives you the distinction of being her favorite. It sounds better than saying you're her favorite snack food."

To Genevieve, he said, "What just happened was part of the mistress learning what it is to be a vampire. She still acts human in most ways, because that's how she knows to behave. She doesn't really understand yet that she isn't human any more. She knows it, she just doesn't understand it, the master was showing her.

She loves him. Her human nature told her to share her favorite with the man she loves, but in nature, predators don't share well. They're too possessive. The mistress got agitated as she watched another feed from her favorite. If it had been anyone but the master, she would have attacked because Karen is hers.

The danger happened when Karen responded to him." He looked back to Karen. "The master was the only thing in the room she is more possessive of than you. If you had touched him in any kind of affectionate way while he was feeding from you, at the very least she would have ripped your arm off before she even realized what she was doing.

It's like this, I'm hers, she is entitled to feed from me if she chooses. If she was feeding from me and I put my arms around her, chances are she wouldn't even notice as long as I didn't cling when she was through.

If the master came into the room while she was feeding on me, he probably wouldn't pay much attention, but if he came into the room while she was feeding and I was holding her as she did it, I would not likely survive the encounter.

They are bonded chosen mates. They won't tolerate the other being intimate with anyone else. We're her pets, but unlike most other pets, she doesn't want sexual services from us. She wants us to run her home and keep her company. It's a pretty sweet gig as long as you remember where you are. Love them and there's nothing like it, but never forget the rules."

Meanwhile in the master suite, popped buttons and torn bits of fabric littered the floor; tattered remnants of the garments which had stood in the way of a frenzied royal coupling.

By the time they had reached the bed they were completely naked, their blood surging through them at a fevered pitch; the longing and desire of their kisses all-consuming. There were no words between them. They needed none. They were driven by the raw, carnal demand for nothing more than to be joined, to be together, to be one.

Eric threw her onto the bed and followed her down. Within seconds he had entered her, hard and urgent. Her nails dug into his back as she moved into him, accepting him as deeply as she could. As their bodies intertwined, they were transported to that place where only they existed, their love, their lust, their need for one another. Her screams of pleasure mingled with his roaring groans, creating the soundtrack of their communion.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

"They're coming," Ferdinand said as he placed the phone back on its base.

"How many?" Eric asked.

"Six. The King, the doctor, Markel, the woman and two guards."

Eric glanced at Heller, the female pets had all been sent shopping. Heller was kept behind to provide incidental service. "One more."

Heller moved quickly to the dining area for another chair.

Sookie was seated in her favorite overstuffed chair near the piano, with Eric standing beside her. The sofas had been pushed to the far sides of the room. A comfortable chair had been placed directly across from Sookie, about six feet away. This was for Nora. A dining chair was at either side, presumably for Leonas and Richard Markel. Heller brought another for Dr. Buxton.

Sookie sat with her eyes fixed nervously on the door. She was focusing a great deal of effort on not gripping the upholstery on the arms of her chair so hard it ripped. This was it. It was time. She was either about to perform a miracle or make a complete ass of herself. She felt as if Eric's steady hand on her shoulder was the only thing keeping her in the chair, the gentle stroking of his thumb on her back, willing her jitters to subside.

"They're here," Sookie whispered.

"Pam," Eric said, looking in her direction. "Get the door for our guests."

Pam opened the door to Leonas' broad grin. "Look who's here," she cooed. She stepped back and made a sweeping motion with her arm. "Won't you come in?"

Sookie moved to stand, but Eric held firm on her shoulder. Leonas was using her, or at least he thought he was. Eric would not have her bow to him as he did it.

Nora was behind Leonas with Dr. Buxton and a man who was likely Richard Markel on each side of her, each holding one of her hands, leading her. The two guards silently brought up the rear of the party.

"Put the woman here," Eric said, solemnly indicating the chair across from Sookie.

Buxton and Markel sat her in the chair as instructed. Following Eric's lead, Leonas remained standing. The guards stood at attention near a sofa on one wall, mirroring Pam and Ferdinand on the other. Heller was near the bar, ready in case he was called.

Sookie heard Leonas introducing Richard Markel, but she wasn't paying any attention to them, she was looking at Nora. Nora who sat placidly staring off over Sookie's shoulder and out the plate glass window into the night. Or at least that's what she looked like she was doing. In reality her eyes were wide open, but she wasn't seeing a thing.

Sookie concentrated on Nora's mind and she shifted slightly in her seat as she mentally stepped inside. Sookie could still feel Eric's comforting hand on her shoulder as she stood in a spacious yet very plain foyer at the head of a long hallway lined with closed doors. It reminded her of the view from the elevators of any of the hallways here at Valhalla.

As she took slow, careful steps forward she noticed how stark and dull the hallway was. Behind these doors were the events and impressions of this woman's life and she housed them so simply. There was no joy here.

Down the hall on the left there was a sliver of light. One of the doors was open just a crack. Sookie could hear humming as she reached the door. She knew what she would find on the other side. She pulled the door open and there was Nora sitting gracefully on the floor next to a large cradle, rocking it as she hummed a lullaby.

"I knew you'd come back," Nora whispered.

Sookie was barely aware of the gasps in her living. Then Markel grabbed Nora's arm and announced, "Of course I came back! I'll never leave you again."

Nora's brow crinkled and she looked up with a confused expression.

Sookie lunged from under Eric's hand and shoved Markel away. In less than a second Pam had him standing with her hand over his mouth and Ferdinand was at their side holding a stake over Markel's heart.

"Silence, idiot!" Leonas hissed. "She was speaking to the Queen, not you."

"It's alright," Sookie assured her. "I'm here. I came back."

Nora looked down into the cradle. "Shhh." She held a hand up to Sookie. "We mustn't wake them."

"May I see them?" Sookie asked, taking a step nearer.

Nora looked back and forth between Sookie and the cradle. "Quietly," Nora murmured.

Sookie tiptoed to the side of the cradle opposite Nora. Inside were three infants, but they weren't sleeping. They were dead. Sookie maintained her composure. At least they weren't burned she thought thankfully. This was how Nora saw her children, all infants again, eternally sleeping until the fire began again.

"They're beautiful, Nora," Sookie said softly. "Can we go out into the hall where we can talk without waking them?"

Worry covered Nora's face. Her hand went toward the tiny corpses in the cradle but didn't touch them. It just hovered above them as Nora stared.

"Nora?" Sookie prodded. "Will you come with me?" She took Nora's hovering hand gently in hers and took a step to the head of the cradle.

Nora stood and allowed Sookie to guide her. "Only for a moment."

"Only for a moment," Sookie repeated, taking another step toward the door.

They moved to the door, one slow step at a time, with Nora looking back over her shoulder at the cradle with every step. When Sookie stepped through the door, Nora froze, their clasped hands suspended in the doorframe.

"I shouldn't leave them. Something might happen."

"It's alright, Nora. You can't be with them every minute," Sookie reassured her.

"But I'm a good mother," Nora pleaded, a touch of panic entering her voice. Her hand loosened in Sookie's and she tried to pull away. "I can't leave them. I have to watch them every minute to keep them safe."

Sookie closed her hand tight around Nora's wrist. The temperature was rising in the room. "Nora, you can't watch them every minute. It isn't possible. Not even a perfect mother can do that. Please, I need to talk to you."

"Why do you want me to come with you? I thought you came to see the children, to help me watch them." She tugged against Sookie's grip, confusion and fear growing on her face.

With one hand still clamped on Nora's wrist, Sookie grabbed Nora's hand with her other. "Please come into the hall, Nora, let me talk to you, only for a minute." Sookie pulled and Nora stumbled into her.

Back in the living room, Nora had tumbled out of her chair and into Sookie's lap on the floor. Someone must have reached for Sookie because she heard Eric's low growl, "Touch her and you die."

They were standing in the hall now with Nora looking wildly about as if she had no idea where she was. There it was, the smoke, or at least the smell of it. Nora tried to pull away. Sookie threw her arms around her. "Stay with me, Nora."

"I can't. My babies!"

Smoke was filling the room. "Nora they're dead. You can't help them any more. You were a good mother, but they're gone now."

"Nooooooooo!"

"Nora, I came back for you!" Sookie screamed, trying to he heard over Nora's wails.

Nora began to choke. The room burst into flames, consuming everything inside. "Noooo, nooo, nooo!"

"I came for YOU!" Sookie shrieked and hurled them against the door, slamming it shut.

Nora stood motionless against the door and Sookie did not loosen her hold. Nora's eyes were moving, but she wasn't seeing she was absorbing. Remembering the events of the last eight years, watching as the fog in her brain lifted and her mind showed her things and they clicked into place.

"They're gone," Nora said, her voice barely audible.

"They're fine now. They are happy. There is no pain where they are," Sookie said. "Will you come out with me?"

"Into the sun?"

"No," Sookie sighed, "Into the light. Come." She let one arm slip down Nora's arm and she took her hand. She led her back to the foyer. "Close your eyes."

A moment later, in the floor of her living room, Sookie gently pushed Nora back from her chest and looked at her closed eyelids. "Nora, you can open your eyes now."

Nora did as she was told. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room.

"Welcome back," Sookie said.

"Richard?" Nora said in a shocked tone when she saw Richard Markel struggling against Pam with Ferdinand holding a stake to him.

"Let him go," Sookie instructed.

Richard flew to Nora and they embraced for the first time in eight years. Within seconds they were both crying. He was alternating between apologies for not having been with her in so long and declaring he had never stopped loving her. She was taking comfort in his arms as she began the mourning process for her long dead children.

Sookie took Eric's extended hand and stood. "Was it everything you'd hoped for?" she asked Leonas. It was a silly question. She could see the answer clearly on his face.

He couldn't take his eyes off Nora. "Everything and more, my dear," Leonas answered in a far away voice. "Name your fee, Eric."

"I do not recall having asked a fee, Leonas, only my lady's consent. Rumors of our mercenary disposition are greatly exaggerated," Eric responded with a droll edge.

In a moment only slightly less dramatic than Nora's re-emergence, Ferdinand dropped to one knee in front of Sookie and bowed his head almost to the floor. "I never thought I would be truly awed. You are a worker of miracles, my queen. The Norseman has brought a genuine goddess to live among us."

Sookie rolled her eyes over to Pam for commiseration. She knew if she looked up at Eric, all she'd find is a satisfied smirk. Pam was having difficulty holding back her laughter. When her eyes met Sookie's she had to look away to keep from losing her grip.

"Do get up, Rodriguez," Leonas snapped. "You are not in church."

Ferdinand did not budge from his subjugated position. "I would be honored to worship at the feet of my goddess queen."

"My feet are just fine without any worshipers, thank you. Get up," Sookie said a little more harshly than she had intended.

"As you command, Your Majesty," Ferdinand said as he stood, head still bowed, and took several steps backward until he was back next to Pam.

Good grief. He's worse than Oliver, Sookie thought. Ferdinand's door was standing wide open and brightly lights in shades of white and gold were pouring out, but she didn't have time to worry about him right now. He was probably in there madly erecting another statue. Now that she was a goddess in his eyes, maybe she'd get her own. Whatever. She walked over to Nora and Richard who were still in a woven heap in the floor.

"I've arranged for a private suite for you two," Sookie said to them.

"Your Majesty," Richard said, scrambling to his knees and bowing his head to her. "How can I ever – how can we ever thank you or repay you for what you've done for us? I will be ever in your debt."

"You have no debts here, Mr. Markel. I hope you both have long happy lives."

Nora looked up, her eyes swollen with bloody tears. "You're a queen." Her voice was small and filled with wonder bordering on disbelief. "Yet you came for me."

Sookie leaned down, bringing her face close to Nora. She smiled and stroked Nora's disheveled hair. "What kind of queen would I be if I knew you were suffering and I didn't come for you?"

Nora grabbed Sookie's hand and kissed it repeatedly. Though the attention made her a little uncomfortable, Sookie didn't pull away. She simply patted Nora's head. "Ferdinand," Sookie said softly after a moment, "will you show Nora and Mr. Markel to their room?"

"Right away, Your Majesty," he replied with a nod.

Richard stood and helped Nora to her feet. Sookie returned to her seat as Ferdinand led them away.

"I'm afraid I've provided all the entertainment I can for one night. That was a lot more tiring than I expected it to be."

"Of course," Leonas replied. "No one wished you to exhaust yourself, least of all me. The Ambassador should be here tomorrow evening. I'm anxious to tell him about this evening's events. I'm certain he will be just as anxious to hear. Rest well, Queen Sookie." Smiling up at Eric he added, "I have complete confidence you will take very good care of your little vampire necromancer."

"I intend to take very good care of my wife."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Ausra looked at her watch as she exited the plane in Atlanta. The flight had only run a few minutes late, but every minute was urgent. It was already 6:20pm. Sunset was at 7:30. If Anna woke in a travel coffin there was no telling what she might do.

She made her way as quickly as possible to the courtesy counter and asked for directions to the freight pick-up area. Freight, Lady Anna Tarvydas, wife of a King, was traveling as airfreight. Ausra violently cringed every time she thought about it. No time for that. She was happy to discover a golf cart waiting for her to take her out to the freight area.

In only a few minutes she was outside and approaching a hearse. When the golf cart stopped near the hearse, a young woman got out. She was wearing shorts and a T-shirt and chewing a mouthful of gum. "You Ausra?"

"Yes," Ausra answered hesitantly. "Are we ready?"

"Not yet. That's your vamp over there," the woman pointed to a luggage tram approaching from around a corner. "But we'll be on our way any minute." She offered Ausra a big, friendly smile and said, "I'm Stacy. I'll be driving for you. I hope you don't mind if I drive fast. We're cutting it kind of close on time. We were told it's important for your vamp to wake in a bed rather than the travel coffin, so I'll have to step on it."

"Yes, we need to hurry."

"Cool," Stacy said. "You can ride up front with me. Here, I'll take you bag."

"Thank you," Ausra responded as she handed Stacy her carry-on bag.

When Anna and her luggage were secured in the back, Stacy and Ausra climbed into the front seat of the car and took off. Ausra looked at her watch. Seven o'clock.

"How far is it to where we're going?"

"Not far. It'll be close, but we'll make it." Stacy grabbed her cell phone from the console between the bucket seats. "We're leaving the airport now. Have the back bay open and the crash room ready. We'll need to make the transfer fast. See you in fifteen."

Fifteen minutes later Ausra's nerves were shot, but they finally reached their destination. Stacy pulled into a large receiving door in the back of a funeral home and it noisily rolled down behind them. Two men in jeans were waiting. The moment the car stopped they had Anna out of the car, on a casket gurney and heading into the building.

"Follow me," Stacy said. She got out of the car and opened a side door to grab Ausra's bag. "We're taking her to the crash room. It's the only bed we have. It's a room we use when someone has to work late and they're too tired to go home. It's nothing special, but I cleaned it up earlier and put new linens on the bed."

"Thank you," Ausra replied.

"Your escort is in there." Stacy pointed to a door they passed in the narrow hall. "Casket storage."

"Our escort?" Ausra asked. "I didn't know we had an escort."

"King Eric sent her. The woman with you must be very important if he sent an assassin to escort you. My master says King Eric is the only one who will tolerate her. He took her in back when he was still just a Sheriff. She's a little thing to be an assassin, but she's plenty surly."

"Thalia," Ausra said.

"Oh, you know her."

"We've met."

"Here we are," Stacy said brightly, standing back and holding the door for Ausra to enter.

Just as she'd said, the room was small and shabby, but it appeared to be clean. The two men had just deposited Anna on the bed and were about to tuck her in.

"I'll take care of that," Ausra said, moving quickly to Anna's side. "If you would please leave me alone with her. Having strangers in the room when she wakes will make her nervous. And please take the travel coffin with you when you go."

They left as instructed, Ausra straightened the covers around Anna and waited for Anna to wake. She glanced at her watch 7:28. Any minute.

Precisely two minutes later, Anna sprang bolt upright in bed, looking around in a near panic. "Did we have an earthquake?"

"No, Lady Anna. All is well."

"Ausra? Where are we?"

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

"Why aren't you undressed yet?" Sookie asked playfully.

"It seems a rather agile young woman has confused me with a stripper pole. It would be difficult to disrobe without risk of her falling."

"I see." She looked at her legs, which were wrapped tightly around his waist and his shirt. With him holding her, she had completely stripped between the door and the bed. "Hmm. I can certainly understand how that would make it difficult for you. Maybe if you leaned over the bed she would hop off?"

He smiled and leaned over the bed. She pulled herself up and kissed him before letting go and bouncing onto the bed. She laid flat on her stomach then slowly pulled her knees up under her until her butt was sticking up in the air.

Eric kicked off his shoes, pulled his shirt out of his jeans and began to unbutton it. "Now tell me, my love, why did you lie to poor Ferdinand?"

"What in the world are you talking about?" Sookie asked, rolling from her stomach to her back so she could watch him finish undressing.

He tossed his shirt aside and smiled wickedly at her, drinking in the sight of her lying there naked and waiting for him. She gave a startled giggle as he grabbed her foot and dragged her to the edge of the bed before taking her foot with great deference in both hands and lifting it to his lips. He kissed the top of her foot tenderly.

He raised his eyes to meet hers. "You told him your feet had no worshipers."


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

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"Relax, Lady Anna, only friends are here."

Anna remained on the shabby bed, clutching a worn quilt as Ausra went to respond to the three quick raps on the door. She found Thalia standing there, holding a wine glass filled with blood. Her glistening white teeth were exposed within the taunting grin she wore.

"Good evening, brave Britlingen," Thalia cooed. "I bear no heart tonight, only its contents. If you would be so good as to let me pass."

Ausra stood aside. How it was possible for such a tiny creature to instill fear, even in a Britlingen, was amazing. As easily frightened as Anna was, if she wasn't screaming within minutes, it would be a miracle. Thalia was to be their escort, so there was no avoiding her. Anna would have to learn to tolerate her.

Thalia's robes touched the floor as always, her hood was firmly on her head concealing all but a very few wisps of dark brown hair. Odd, Ausra thought. She would have expected Thalia to have grey hair, if any at all. Granted, vampires didn't age, but Thalia gave the impression of being very old beneath her dull brown wrappings.

"You must be Anna Maria," Thalia said in a tone which virtually dripped kindness and respect. "My Mistress, Her Most Royal Majesty Queen Sookie of Arkansas, Louisiana and Nevada, has sent me to serve as escort for you and your friend, Miss Ausra. We will be leaving shortly. Will you be requiring anything from your luggage before it is loaded into our car?" Thalia offered Anna a much softer smile than she had given Ausra.

Anna stared for just a moment before saying, "I have met your queen. She said we could be friends."

"Yes, madam, my queen said you are very great friends. In fact, this wine is a gift from my queen. She said you adhere to a very strict diet of wine. She sends this vintage with her compliments." Thalia raised her hand, extending the glass to Anna.

Anna looked to Ausra and only after Ausra smiled and nodded did Anna accept the glass. "You only brought one," Anna observed.

"I am told your companion does not drink wine," Thalia said to Anna. Then turning to Ausra, she asked, "Have I been misinformed?"

"You have not," Ausra said stiffly. "I never drink, wine."

Thalia's laugh was an odd mixture of giggle and cackle. "Interesting quote, one of my favorites actually. There is a kitchen down the hall to the left if you want to grab yourself something. Be quick. I'll be back in fifteen minutes to collect you both and we'll be leaving. We have a long drive."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Pandora entered Sookie's dressing room alone, carrying her ever-present notebook. "Good evening, Mistress. There are a few things I've been asked to go over with you before Shana comes in to help you dress. Unless you'd prefer to have a donor sent in first?"

"No, you first," Sookie said, smiling up from her seat at her dressing table. "I'll go over to the donor suite in a little while. Do you now if the Ambassador is here yet? Eric said he would likely be here early tonight."

"Yes, Mistress," Pandora said briskly before consulting the information in her notes. "His Grace, along with some of his party, is in guest suite A, on this floor. The others who are with him are in two suites on the floor below.

No formal meetings have been scheduled yet, but the Master asked me to tell you he would call your cell to inform you when anything was. He said you would not be required at any of the initial round of meetings, but of course you would be welcome if you wanted to be there."

Sookie looked at Pandora as if she'd suddenly turned into a circus clown. "To listen to them all carry on about me as if I wasn't sitting right there, carrying on and on about what I may or may not be able to do for them and demanding to know why Eric doesn't share me like a bag of M and M's? No thanks. Anything else?"

"There are two ladies in the Ambassador's party-"

Sookie laughed out loud at that. "Yeah, aren't there always? Who are the two pretending to be this time? And who are they really?"

"I, I'm not sure. The Master said they are two of the Ambassador's mistresses and he would like you to entertain them and to make a point of making friends with one in particular, a Miss Anna Maria Vitskya. He said he would speak to you more about her later."

"The Ambassador certainly seems to have no shortage of company," Sookie snorted.

Pandora muffled a laugh of her own. "Powerful men are rarely lonely, and the Ambassador is a very powerful man."

"So I'm told," Sookie chuckled. "And that reminds me. Before Shana comes in, would you send Karen in, please? I'd like to talk to her alone."

"Of course, Mistress." Pandora nodded and left to go get Karen.

Sookie stared into the mirror and cinched the soft silk ties of her robe tighter. "Polite, but firm," she said to her reflection.

A minute later a clearly nervous Karen appeared, trembling in the doorway. "Good evening, Mistress. You called for me?"

Sookie pivoted in her chair so she was facing Karen, but she did not stand. "Come and sit, so we can talk."

Karen was immediately on her knees with her head face down in Sookie's lap. "Please don't send me away, Mistress. It will never happen again. I didn't mean anything by it, I swear."

This was a more dramatic encounter than Sookie had anticipated. She stared into her lap. "I'm not sending you away," she said in a comforting tone as she placed a hand on the back of Karen's head and began stroking her hair. "But we must understand one another. I want a happy home. I want everyone here to be as happy as possible and to have whatever it takes to make them happy. Eric and I share our home with all of you. We share everything with you. But there is one thing I will never share, not for a moment, not even a little bit."

Karen looked up, tears streaming from her eyes. "I don't know what came over me. I wasn't thinking. I was just reacting. I-"

"Karen, stop," Sookie said taking Karen's chin in her hand as if she was a child. "You may not have been thinking before, but you must think now. Breathe and think about what I'm saying to you. You must understand. I was sharing you with him. I was not sharing him with you. I will never share him with you. I will never share him with anyone, not like that, not willingly and not without a fight."

"I never thought you were offering him to me, Mistress."

"I know how attractive he is, Karen. I know he seduces everyone around him without even thinking about it. It's his nature. If you've developed a crush or something you must not try to hide it. You must tell me now, here, when you are safe because we're talking calmly. If you try to hold something like that back and I see it at a time when I am less in control, I might do things I don't want to do."

"The King is a very good looking man, but it is the Queen I think of first when I wake. It is you I wait for when you're away. It is your safety I fear for when everything is so tense and things are happening I don't understand. It is your return which sets my heart at rest." Karen tilted her face into Sookie's palm and kissed it.

"Shh. It's alright," Sookie whispered as she leaned over and embraced her. "You have nothing to worry about. Everything will be fine. Go fix your make-up. When I'm dressed we need to go greet the Ambassador's lady friends. Get up now, and send Shana and Pandora back in."

"Thank you, Mistress," Karen gushed as she stood, still holding Sookie's hand.

"Everything's fine now," Sookie replied with a smile. "Go on."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

"The woman is completely healed?" Ambassador Tumim asked. His tone was incredulous, yet he knew The Norseman to be a truthful and trusted ally.

"She appears to be, yes. When she entered our home, she had to be led by the hand to keep her moving and prevent her walking into walls. She seemed to be unaware of her surroundings and she was completely unresponsive to anyone but Sookie." Nothing in Eric's tone or demeanor gave away the gravity of the situation. He was a picture of comfort and ease as he sat in his massive leather chair with his lands laced over his stomach, his left leg crossed over his right at the knee.

"Then Sookie did whatever it is she does," he continued. "From an observer's standpoint, and from Sookie's own description, she simply walked into the woman's mind and engaged her in conversation."

"That is all? Conversation? I don't see what help there could be for Anna in conversation. She regularly converses with a variety of people every night." Tumim's disappointment was clear in his voice.

"I have no assurances other than Sookie conviction. She was convinced she could help Anna even before she had helped this woman. Her feelings have not lessened. She feels certain this is her gift, to enter the vampire mind as no other has been able to do, at least no other who has made their gift known."

"I must say, Vincentas and I were both surprised you were willing to make this gift of hers known to others. You have no history of such risk taking. May I inquire after your reasoning?"

Eric sighed heavily. "You have met my queen, Andrius. Her enthusiasm is at times, shall we say, irrepressible."

Andrius chuckled and gave Eric a look of understanding and approval. "Ah, yes. There are times when we are all subject to the whims of the ladies in our lives. I try and view it as an opportunity to test my adaptability under duress."

"Indeed," Eric agreed with a low laugh.

A loud knock drew their attention to the door.

"Show time," Andrius said under his breath.

"Join us, Leonas," Eric called.

Eric and Andrius both stood to welcome Leonas as he breezed into the room.

"Sit, sit, my friends," Leonas insisted. "I see I find you hard at work and here I am barely fed." He took the other chair across from Eric and sat with a grin occupying the entirety of his lower face.

"No work at all, I assure you," Andrius said as he retook his seat. "Since we have no formal business, The Norseman was about to satisfy my curiosity on some of the details of how he relieved Felipe deCastro of his kingdom."

"A simple matter of desire and risk, Your Grace. I desired to make my chosen queen, and I was willing to risk much to achieve it," Eric said without missing a beat. He might have been discussing the weather. "Of course having the advantage of Leonas' assistance was paramount and leaves me greatly in his debt."

"It was nothing," Leonas added with a chuckle. "All I did was loan him a few men and take the small county in which The Leanne Institute is housed. Nothing any friend wouldn't do for another."

Having never been one to miss even the smallest point of concession during a negotiation, Andrius Tumim spoke up at once. "I see. So you took property as your payment? When Eric mentioned the debt he owed you, naturally I assumed you had yet to be recompensed."

Leonas' eyes darted between Eric and the Ambassador. "No doubt The Norseman refers to a debt of honor he feels he owes. We all know him to be an honorable man."

Eric leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. "I believe the discussion of my honor can wait for some other time, gentlemen.

Leonas, since you are at present a guest in my kingdom, your brother requested and was granted consent for the Ambassador and his party to come here to negotiate a formal state visit to California. Since these negotiations do not involve me or mine, I will of course excuse myself from the discussions. You are welcome to remain here. I am more than pleased to offer the comforts of my office. Or if you prefer a larger space, meeting rooms will be made available on the floor above."

"I believe this space is more than adequate. Do you not agree, Leonas?" Andrius asked, though he did not wait for a response before continuing. "After all, we are negotiating a simple visit between brothers, not a secession of war. I brought no teams of brokers or mediators. Mine is a party of pleasure consisting only of my personal guards and two entertaining companions. A man should never be without amusement if he can help it."

Leonas laughed as if Andrius had told some marvelous joke. "It is well known you travel alone for only the most dire business and this trip is nothing of a serious nature. Will my brother's lovely wife be joining him for this visit to California after having so recently been here in Louisiana?"

"If you will excuse me then," Eric said as he stood. "My office is yours for as long as you have need of it."

"Please stay," Leonas said with a friendly wave. "There are no exchanges of secrets taking place. Andrius was about to tell us if Lady Anna would be visiting as well."

"Indeed, it was Lady Anna herself who asked for the visit," Andrius stated as matter-of-factly as if he was reporting a futbol score from back home.

Leonas' nonchalant veneer shattered leaving him exposed and vulnerable. His body went limp in his chair as he stared in disbelief at Andrius. Had he just said Anna had asked to come to him, to California? Was it even possible? "I beg your pardon," he asked softly.

Eric had never seen Leonas so defenseless. He was frozen in time as he waited for the Ambassador's next words. Eric re-took his seat, fascinated by the exchange taking place before him.

Only a stake could have injured Leonas more than Andrius' reply. "She has apparently been pleading with Vincentas to show her Hollywood. She wants to meet movie stars."

"Movie stars?" Leonas muttered.

"He tried arranging for a film to be made nearby, even offered to have the stars reside in the palace during filming, but she would have no part of it. She wishes to see them in their natural habitat, so to speak. You know how indulgent Vincentas is with her. I was unable to tell your brother whether you had a formal residence in the Los Angeles area."

Eric was riveted by the specter of Leonas being laid bare and battered so readily by Andrius who seemed to be completely distracted by toy on Eric's desk, a four inch magnetized circle with a pile of small metal skulls and crossbones on top. You could stack the bones end to end, several high and the magnetism would hold them in place. Eric watched as Leonas reassembled what was left of his dignity and composure and covered himself with an air of coldness.

When Leonas spoke, all pretense of civility was gone from his voice. "I will have my estate in Beverly Hills readied to accommodate Vincentas and his bride. It provides excellent security, having both a wall surrounding the property and sufficient housing for ample servants within the main house and more than adequate security personnel in buildings secluded around the property.

If it would please Lady Anna to give a reception attended by any particular stars, provide my secretary with a list and we will make every effort to see she is not disappointed.

And of course I'm sure she would enjoy the company of Eric and his queen. I believe they developed something of a friendship when Lady Anna was here for the Gala." Leonas stared venomously at Eric, daring him to decline his invitation.

Eric met his stare without flinching. "As you are aware, Leonas, it was my intention to take my queen for an introductory tour of the European courts. Only moments before Andrius joined me I sent dispatches to France and Romania."

Leonas' eyes were beginning to bulge.

Eric chuckled and moved his gaze to Andrius. "However, if Vincentas and the Lady Anna are desirous of our company during their visit, I feel certain Sookie would have no objection to spending a few days in California before leaving for Europe."

"Excellent," Leonas snapped from behind a smile which was becoming more relaxed by the second. He was recovering from the momentary reaction to Andrius and his stinging tongue. "If you would be good enough to indicate when you preferred to begin this venture, I will get the ball rolling toward making this a momentous event for all."

"Six days hence," Andrius said pleasantly.

"Short notice, but we'll work with it," Leonas replied. "Try to get that list to my secretary as soon as possible.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll start making calls."

Leonas stood and bowed before making a quick exit, confident his plans were still intact despite the change of venue.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Sookie stood behind as Pandora knocked on the door to the Ambassador's suite. A human girl, probably 18 or 19, answered and held the door open for Pandora, Sookie and Karen to enter.

"Her Majesty is prepared to receive Ambassador Tumim's friends, if they are ready to be presented," announced to the girl.

"Miss Julia is in the sitting room, there," the girl gestured to a woman in a snug, bright orange dress.

Julia the goldfish, Sookie thought.

"How very provincial." The owner of the comment glided into the room wearing a plain rose-colored silk blouse and full black skirt cinched tight at the waist; her golden brown hair tumbling loose onto her shoulders.

"Excuse me?" Pandora responded reflexively. "And you are?"

"I am Anna Maria. I meant no insult, of course," she said with an affected smile. Her tone made it clear to everyone that whether she had intended an insult or not, she felt she was above the position she found herself in. She glanced at Julia. "I'm always amused when I come to this country, by their fear of us. They call us "friends" but they see us as mysterious and exotic things to be hidden and spoken of in whispers. It's almost charming."

"You don't strike me as being particularly mysterious or exotic and I have no problem not calling you friend. What would you prefer to be called?" Sookie asked, fixing her gaze on Anna Maria.

Anna Maria laughed and looked Sookie over taking a quick account of her. "Such fire in a servant would never be allowed to go unchecked in a European court. I may actually like your Queen. Julia and I are courtesans in the court of His Majesty King Vincentas of Lithuania. We are accustomed to being referred to as what we are, without pretense, but of course we will happily oblige your quaint customs."

"That would be great!" Sookie enthused with a smile every bit as big as Anna Maria's. "But it really isn't necessary. We wouldn't want you to have to go out of your way to oblige any of our quaint little customs. We'll just drop all the pretenses and call you whores. Better?"

Anna Maria's smile vanished. "How dare you?" she shrieked.

Oliver caught her in mid lunge, with Ferdinand close behind to gather her arms and hold them behind her back. Pandora and Karen had both thrown themselves in front of Sookie, though they could have done little to prevent Anna Maria's advance. Julia was on her feet, obviously amused but making no attempt to enter the fray.

"Unhand me, this minute!" Anna Maria demanded, but neither man loosened his grip on her.

Sookie put a hand on Pandora's shoulder and another on Karen's, nudging them gently apart and stepping through the gap between them. "I'm alright," she assured them.

It was at that moment Anna Maria realized her mistake. She went limp and had Oliver cared to further her humiliation he could have simply allowed her to fall to the floor.

"I haven't had a chance to introduce myself. I'm Sookie Northman. I'm Queen in this kingdom. I apologize for my rudeness, but I have a quick temper and I never did take well to insults. We're not in the middle of Europe and we're not in a big glittering city, and no, we don't have any courtesans here. In fact, as far as I know, you and Julia are the first ones I've ever met. No one told us what to call you, so we called you friends because we were trying to be friendly."

Oliver chose this moment to let go. Ferdinand still having hold of her arms made her fall even more graceless than it would have been otherwise. She fell onto her knees and made no attempt to rise. "I beg our forgiveness, Your Majesty. I had no idea you had come to our room yourself. I would have never said,"

Sookie knelt in order to be at eye level with Anna Maria. "I assume you know why you were chosen to come here. I can see why they chose you. You could probably pass as her, but she could never pass as you. She has a heart, even if it doesn't beat.

I'm sure you would never have said what you did if you'd known who I was, but let me tell you something I'd like for you to remember for as long as you're here. I will not tolerate any abuse of any of my servants, my pets, or my staff. Your rank and position in your own court does not give you any power over anyone in mine. If you can't manage to be civil when you speak, please resist speaking."

Sookie stood and smoothed her skirt. "Now that we're past the introductions, I'll show you around. I'm sure this won't be the most thrilling place you've ever been, but at least you should know your way around."

Anna Maria scrambled up from the floor and sank back next to Julia as Sookie steered their group out into the hall and to the elevators. Once inside, Sookie pointed out the key slot in the panel. "Make sure everyone has their room key with them whenever you leave your room. You'll need to put it into this slot in order to make the elevator go back to the top floor." As if she was a flight attendant demonstrating how the use the oxygen mask over your head, Pandora took her key from her purse and pretended to slide it into the electronic key slot.

When the elevator stopped on the ground floor, Sookie stepped into the doorway, blocking the exit as she turned to face everyone. "Anna Maria, as I'm sure someone has told you, you and I are supposed to become fast friends. I hope that doesn't offend you, but whether it does or not, I must ask you to come here."

Anna Maria stepped forward without hesitation. There was a purpose for her being here and despite having unintentionally offended the queen, she had to try to fulfill her purpose. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"None of that," Sookie whispered as she slipped an arm around Anna Maria's waist. "Everyone knows I prefer to be called Sookie, especially by my friends. We will smile and giggle and laugh so anyone looking at us would think we had clicked just right and become instant best friends."

Sookie watched as Anna Maria's face melted into an expression of pure fascination and fun. Despite her social stumble upstairs, she was going to be good at this game.

Pretending there was no stress between them seemed to ease most of the stress away as Sookie Gave Anna Maria a guided grand tour of Vallhalla. Anna Maria was introduced to as many people as possible. Everyone on duty at the concierge desk, the clerks at the main desk, the maitre d` in the dining room, as well as several shop attendants. With each introduction, Sookie made a point of telling everyone to make certain they remembered Anna Maria and gave her special attention any time they saw her, because she was a dear friend.

After Valhalla came the same routine around The Asgard. Sookie could hear Eric, Leonas and the Ambassador's voices as she pointed out Eric's office. She wondered if his meeting was as trying as hers.

When Anna Maria had been introduced to everyone from the pit bosses to the cashiers, they had danced for hours and Sookie had had more of Anna Maria's company to last her a lifetime, Sookie excused herself. "I have a pet in the hospital and I need to check on her progress. Please enjoy yourselves as much as you're able and I'm sure I'll see you again tomorrow evening. It's only a couple hours before sunrise. She'll likely be asleep when I get there, but I didn't go yesterday."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Shortly after 8pm they were gone. Thalia drove, perched high in a seat similar to a child's booster seat. The car had been designed for ease of use by the physically handicapped so the gas and braking controls were located on the steering wheel. Thalia was having a great time.

"Do you have a driving permit?" Ausra asked as her stomach lurched. She really wished she hadn't eaten that sandwich before leaving the funeral home. She closed her eyes for a moment, hoping the action would somehow immunize her against the motion of Thalia's erratically careening from one lane to another.

"What would I do with a driving permit?" Thalia asked with a wild cackle. "I don't have a car."

"Don't talk to the driver," Anna whispered. "They never make any sense. We should have taken a carriage. Carriage drivers are always more polite. And they dress better. These automobile drivers are never fashionably dressed."

Ausra forced a smile and sat back into the seat. "Yes, my lady. I'll try to ignore her."

"Good," Anna said with a satisfied smile. Grasping Ausra's hand, she said, "Now, did you notice she called me Anna Maria? She counts, yes? The game has begun?"

"Oh, the game, yes, my lady, the game has begun. You have scored one already. That is very good!" Yes, Ausra thought, the dangerous game has begun and if they were very lucky, Thalia wouldn't kill them on their way to play it.

"Oh, this will be fun," Anna said happily smiling at Ausra. "The driver said her queen sent her. I wonder where we're going? I tried looking out the windows, but nothing looks familiar. Well, no matter." Her expression turned to concern for a moment. "I forgot to ask Vincentas who he would be pretending to be. If I should see him, do you suppose I should pretend not to know who he is?"

"I believe that would be the best thing to do, my lady. If the two of you meet, I'm sure he will tell you if you are supposed to speak as if you know one another."

"Yes, I think you're right," Anna agreed. "And you must stop calling me 'my lady'. You must call me Anna Maria, because if you do it, others will follow your lead and that will help me win. By the way, who are the other players?" Anna's furrowed brow gave away her utter confusion.

She is almost as innocent as a child, Ausra thought. The mind of a naïve young woman, in the body of a beautiful vampire seductress, center stage on a battlefield contested by some of the fiercest warriors who ever lived. How could anyone have thought this was a good idea?

To be fair, Ausra reminded herself, no one really had thought it was a particularly good idea, but even she had agreed it was probably a workable idea. So here they were.

"I think all the players identities are a mystery. That way if you see someone you know, you don't really know if they're playing or not," Ausra replied, trying to keep the nervousness from her voice.

"Very good," Anna said, then leaning forward and raising her voice, she asked Thalia, "How long is our trip? I hope we'll have time for a bath and a change of clothes before any socializing."

"We will be traveling most of the night, but we should arrive in time for you to have plenty of time for bathing and primping. In the box in the floor there is a bottle of wine and some food and drink for your friend," Thalia answered.

Anna sat back and looked at Ausra. "There, you see? Everything is in hand. We have only to relax and wait."

Ausra smiled and closed her eyes. There was no point in trying to argue. They would either make it to Shreveport in one piece or they wouldn't. They traveled the five hundred fifty miles in just over eight hours. Ausra was a nervous wreck by the time they arrived. Anna was as fresh as a daisy and eager to see her new surroundings.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

As she stepped out of the elevator in the Orthopedic building, Sookie was drawn, as was often the case, to her right. She didn't heed the call. Off to the right, someplace through a set of nearby doors, were the surgical suites. There was no one there now, but someone had bled there very recently and the room had not yet been cleaned.

She turned in the direction of Mina's room and ran straight into a woman. It was Anna Maria's rose colored blouse, but, her manners kicked in. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize you were coming along." Sookie glanced upward. It wasn't Anna Maria. "Oh, I thought you were,"

"This way," came a child's voice, diverting Sookie's attention from the woman's face.

A pretty little girl, probably no more than eight had taken the woman's hand and was leading her away before Sookie could even finish her sentence. The girl seemed oddly familiar, but the only girl Sookie knew who was close to that age was Arlene's daughter and this child looked nothing like her.

Sookie was staring after them and watching the girl's thick dark brown curls bouncing off the back of her plain brown A-line dress as she strolled down the hall, hand in hand with the woman who was apparently her mother or caretaker. Unexpectedly the girl turned to look over her shoulder and met Sookie's gaze.

As a crooked grin began to spread across the child's face, Sookie could feel her own eyes opening wider until they became almost painful. That wasn't a child at all she realized. It was Thalia.

Thalia's laughter echoed through the corridors as she shepherded Anna through a tour of her temporary new home.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

.

With thoughts of Thalia filling her mind, Sookie made her way to Mina's room with Oliver and Ferdinand following behind. Oliver would stay with Mina until the last possible moment, then either hurry back to Valhalla or go to ground someplace near. Ferdinand would stay with her and be responsible for getting her back to Valhalla before dawn.

Having gotten over the shock of somehow seeing Thalia as a child, Sookie was able to think more clearly. The woman being led around by the hand had been Anna. Thalia had likely been showing her around the floor, so she would know where things were.

It was late, but she would have to trim back her visit with Mina yet again. She couldn't leave the hospital without seeing Anna.

Mina smiled and reached out when Sookie came around to the side of her bed. "Mistress! I'm so glad you've come," Mina said.

It was obvious she had been waiting and Sookie felt a pang of guilt at the tired tone in her voice. "Mina, dear, you need to stop missing your sleep. You know I'd be here every minute if I could. We'll have you home in a few days and we'll sit together for hours. Maybe we'll have Oliver learn to play piano so he can play for us."

Mina and Sookie both laughed at the mortified expression on Oliver's face.

"You both do worlds for me just by being near. You don't need to actually do anything," Mina said with a loving smile. "Want to see me walk? I'm getting pretty good at not banging the frame on my other leg," she giggled.

"Aren't you too tired to be up running around?" Sookie asked, reaching down to keep Mina in the bed. "I don't want you straining yourself. I want to bring you home soon."

Mina smiled and put her hand on Sookie's arm. "Don't worry. I promise, I won't run anywhere. And like my therapist says, no one ever got bedsores from walking."

"Bedsores?" Sookie eyes were as big as saucers and she looked horrified. "My god, my poor Mina. What have I done to you?"

"Oh, no!" Mina cried, stifling a laugh. "I don't actually have any bedsores. I'm able to move around enough to prevent that, thank goodness. That's just something the therapist says to bully me out of bed."

Sookie was flooded with relief. The thought of Mina with bedsores was unbearable. "I don't think I like your therapist."

It took her a few minutes, and she had to refuse help from both Oliver and Sookie, but Mina maneuvered herself around so she was sitting on the edge of the bed with her toes touching the cool tile floor.

Sookie gasped when Mina stood without so much as a cane for assistance and walked to the wall and back to the bed again. When she was seated on the side of the bed again, Mina looked up cheerfully and said, "Easy as pie. Even a child could do it."

"Mina that was amazing! It's only been a few days." Sookie stared at the metal framework surrounding Mina's thigh. "It doesn't hurt when you walk?"

"I wouldn't say that," Mina said with a rueful chuckle. "I get doped up pretty regular and it still aches, and sometimes if I move wrong, it hurts like hell. But most of the time, it's alright."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

The room had been transformed to appear as much as possible like a normal bedroom as opposed to a hospital room. There was a cherry-stained sleigh bed centered on one wall. A dressing table with a round gilded mirror, lace runners and all the appointments necessary for a lady to groom herself and heavy mauve drapes with a thick black lining to conceal the light tight covering on the window glass.

"I hope the room is comfortable for you," Sookie said. She didn't want to say anything identifying until she could judge Lady Anna's mood and level of realization. She was both confused and more than a little disappointed to see Lady Anna's mind was open to her, yet she could see no wide open doors

"I remember you," Anna said clearly. "You're his queen. Thank you for the wine. It was lovely."

"I'm so happy you liked it."

"Our escort brought it to me. We were in a very strange place. This place is strange as well, but we are in your kingdom, yes?"

"Yes, we're very close to where we were the last time we met." Sookie peered around the room. She saw Ausra, but no one else. "Is your escort with you here?"

Anna glanced around for a moment as if she was confused by the question. "No, she isn't. Quite odd, our escort, her smile is almost frightening. Unusual for one so small."

"Yes," Sookie scoffed; somehow relieved Thalia wasn't there. "She can be frightening, but Eric trusts her completely. I don't think you need to fear her."

"Oh, I wasn't a bit afraid," Anna responded with a radiant smile. "But I could see how some might be."

"I'm glad to hear it." Sookie moved toward a round table with two cushioned chairs. "Shall we sit?" Turning to Ausra, she asked, "Is there more wine?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Ausra replied before stepping quickly to the closet.

"Give the bottle and two glasses to Ferdinand. He can serve us."

Anna looked a little unnerved by the sudden bustle in her room. Sookie reached out and took her hand. "Please, won't you sit with me?"

Anna gazed at Sookie with a faltering smile. "You said we could be friends. You were wearing a red dress. We danced and danced. I danced with Nicholas and you danced with … with someone else."

"Yes," Sookie said softly, encouraging Anna to sit. "We danced a lot the night of the Gala. You were very beautiful."

The combination of flattery and Sookie's touch seemed to calm Anna's jitters. She sat in the other chair, near motionless.

Still holding Anna's hand in the center of the table, Sookie felt the invitation from Anna's subconscious mind. She followed and found herself at the beginning of a very long hallway; so long she couldn't see the end. The hall was lined on either side by a seemingly endless series of doors, all of which appeared to be closed.

"You seem so kind," Anna said in a small but steady voice. "No one has ever come here before. I've cried many times, sometimes for days and days, pleading for someone to come."

"I'm here, Anna," Sookie replied gently. "I've come." She looked as far down the hall as she could but she didn't see any open doors. What she did see was every kind of door she'd ever seen and some she hadn't, in every color and combination of colors imaginable. "If you don't mind, would you show me around? You have so many interesting doorways here."

"Sometimes I change them when I get bored. I used to think it would be very difficult to change the doors. I thought I would need a strong man to come and help me, but after a while I discovered I could do it myself. All I had to do was think about it."

"That must have been a relief, realizing you didn't need help."

"Yes, it was. Though there was one thing I've never been able to do alone. I wish someone would help me with it."

"I'd like to help you, Anna. What do you need help with?"

"It's the strangest thing. I can move so many of these doors all around and put them anywhere I like," Anna lowered her head and her voice, as if she might be overheard by someone or something sinister. "But I can't close the ones which are open."

"Some are open?" Sookie asked. "More than one? I don't see any open doors."

"There are several open ones, but most are difficult to tell unless you're very close. Only one stands completely open. It's far, far at the end of the hall. I can see into that room."

Sookie watched as a shiver ran through Anna's body and her eyes became rimmed in red. "Can you tell me what you see when you look into that far away room?"

"Of course, I can. I see him. I see Nicholas."

"Is Nicholas in any of these other rooms? The rooms where the doors are only partly open?"

"No!" Anna snapped at once. Then she seemed to pause and reconsider. When she looked back at Sookie her expression was confused and a bit concerned. "Why would Nicholas hide from me behind doors which were barely open at all? Those doors frighten me. I don't know what is behind them."

"Perhaps we could look inside one of the closed doors? Those don't frighten you, do they?"

Anna's face brightened. This was the smile Eric had once described to her as a smile which had brought men to their knees. Never him, of course, he'd said immediately. Her beauty had never tempted him. That had to be a lie he told for her sake. She couldn't imagine any man not falling in love with that smile.

"Here, I'll show you my favorite." Anna grabbed Sookie's arm and pulled her to one of the nearest doors. It was a tall arched door made of some kind of rough, thick wood. It was painted bright red with yellow diagonal stripes. Anna grabbed the large metal ring which stood in place of a door knob and she gave a tug. The huge door swung open wide.

Inside the room there were three young girls sitting on a bump of a hill in the middle of a field. The smallest had to be very young. She was a stunning child with coal black hair and enormous eyes.

"It's you when you were a child," Sookie said. She started to take a step forward but Anna blocked her with an outstretched arm.

"We mustn't disturb them. They were so happy then. I was only four years old. My oldest sister Aanor was eleven and Adal was eight. We were making chains from wild flowers, weaving them together to braid into our hair. See how we laughed?"

The sound of happy girly giggles floated in high-pitched peals all around them as the girls sat in the grass and tussled over which of them would have which flowers in her chain. "What a lovely game," Sookie said.

"Mama always said if we were not careful we would pick all the flowers in the village and no other girls would ever have flowers."

Sookie was vaguely aware of Ferdinand placing two glasses on the table between her and Anna then stepping quickly away. "I see why this is your favorite. You look so happy. Obviously y'all loved each other very much."

"Yes. I stand here and watch them a lot. It's peaceful here." Anna grabbed the big ring again and without taking her eyes off the girls she slowly pushed it closed. Anna looked around at the surrounding doors. "Where shall we look next?"

"I'd like to see one of the open doors, if that would be alright?" Sookie said.

"I told you, I can't close those doors."

"Can you open them?"

"I don't know. They scare me. I told you that as well."

Sookie closed the small space between them and slipped an arm around Anna's waist. "Would you mind if I tried? I'd like to try. Where is the closest one?"

Anna snaked her arm under Sookie's arm and around Sookie's waist, pulling her even closer. Slowly she raised her arm and pointed across the hall to an arched door much smaller than this one. It wasn't painted at all and the wood was worn and splintered. As they neared the door, Sookie could see it was barely cracked open. Only a dim glimmer of light escaped from the edges of the door. Anna stiffened beside her as Sookie reached for the handle. It opened as easily as the swinging doors leading into the Merlotte's kitchen.

The hallway was engulfed in the sounds of men yelling for reinforcements and more weapons. Women and children were screaming somewhere, but not here. Here, the three girls sat on the floor with their mother. They were older now. Anna was at least as old as the middle girl had been before. It was the middle child who was crying in her mother's arms. The oldest was facing Anna and holding her hands. Anna was trying to pull away.

"The king was killed and now they're coming and they're taking everything! They will burn the village. They've done it in other villages. Papa said they would come." Anna took a step back from Sookie and put her hands over her ears.

"She's going to start screaming," Sookie heard Ausra whisper. She must be talking to Ferdinand. Anna must be doing the same thing in the hospital room she's doing here. Sookie can't look now. "Focus," she hisses to herself.

"Anna, what's happening here?"

"They're coming!" Anna cried, tightening the grip over her ears. "They have a machine. It throws giant stones over the walls. They crash into our house. We're all going to die!"

"No, Anna," Sookie said calmly as she placed a hand on Anna's. "This happened a long time ago. Nothing here can hurt us now."

"They're so afraid. So afraid," Anna cried. "All but Aanor. She was always so brave. She held my hands and we clapped."

Ausra was completely engrossed. She stared at Anna's hands as they slowly began to move. She held them in front of her and one closed as if she was clasping hands with someone else. The other began to clap against the hand of someone who wasn't there.

"I wish Saule was here," Ausra said, the amazement clear in her voice.

"Why?" Ferdinand asked.

"It's her game. Saule discovered when Lady Anna got unruly or started screaming, if you would make a loud crashing sound it would get her attention, but only for a moment. To keep her quite you could begin clapping your hands and Lady Anna would come and join you. This is why. It was how her sister comforted her."

"Anna, how old were you when this happened?" Sookie asked.

"I was ten when the world crumbled."

"How did you get out?"

"I don't remember."

"Okay. We're going to close this door now. We'll close it and you don't ever have to open it again."

Anna jerked away. "How many times do I have to tell you? I can't close it! I've tried and tried! It won't close."

"We'll close it together. I'll help you." Sookie extended her hand. Anna was visibly trembling all over. "I'll hold your hand while we do it."

The moment Anna moved her hand, Sookie grabbed it firmly, "I've got you. It's alright. Come on, let's push it closed."

With her fingers splayed wide apart and shaking, Anna reached toward the door. She froze as soon as she touched it. "I can't."

"Let me help you," Sookie whispered and she gave the door a little shove. It swept over halfway to the frame. The mother inside the room continued rocking her crying middle child and the oldest remained involved in an intense game of clapping hands. Inch by inch, they pushed the door, stopping after each movement to allow Anna to stare as if she expected it to slam back against her. When she saw it didn't, she would allow Sookie to guide their hands in for another little push.

"This is as far as it will go," Anna whispered when the door had barely made contact with the frame.

""No," Sookie said, offering Anna a bright smile. "Watch this." Sookie raised both her hands; one open palmed, the other still holding Anna's. She leaned in and gave the door a final shove. It offered no resistance. Both women pulled their hands back quickly as a cross beam Sookie hadn't noticed before, fell into place across the door and into it's holding brackets.

Both of Anna's hands went to her ears, but she wasn't holding tight. Her fingertips grazed the outlines of her ears as an expression of awe swept across her face. "The screaming, it stopped." She brought her hands up in front of her face. "And the trembling. It stopped too. I'm not afraid any more. The soldiers have gone. How did you do that?"

"I didn't do it, Anna. The soldiers left a long, long time ago. But I guess you were so afraid you kept remembering them."

Someone's cell phone rang. Ferdinand's. "She is visiting with Lady Anna, my lord. – Yes, my lord, I am aware of the time. – Of course, Your Majesty, I shall bring her right away. – As you wish, no limo, I will fly her there. – Yes, my lord, immediately."

"No! Not yet," Sookie cried, but as soon as she did, she was aware of the room again, the connection with Anna broken for the time being. "Damn."

"Your Majesty, we must leave at once. The King is concerned for your safety. It is less than an hour before sunrise," Ferdinand said quickly.

"I need more time. We can stay here. This room is light tight."

"My lady, I beg you. The King has ordered me to fly you to Valhalla immediately. Even now he waits for you on the roof. If I fail to do so, he will not likely forgive me."

"Guh!" She complained to no avail. "I doubt there's enough time anyway. I have no idea how many doors she has, but there's definitely more than one more. Fine, let's go." She looked up at Ausra. "Don't leave her side until she's asleep."

Ausra bowed her head low. "Not for a moment, Your Majesty."

"Anna," Sookie said with all the kindness in her tone she could muster. Anna was smiling up at her, confused by what just happened, but clearly pleased at the same time. "I promise I'll help you. You have my word. I'll come back and we'll close all the doors. You won't have to be scared or confused any more, at least not by things from your past. We'll make them all go away so you can be happy again."

Anna reached out and grabbed Sookie's hand, holding it tight against her cheek. "You truly are my friend. You are like Vincentas. He loves me, you know. He will be so happy to hear I have a friend."

"I'll be back tomorrow. I promise." And with that, Sookie allowed herself to be rushed to the elevators and up to the roof of the Orthopedic building.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

When Ferdinand landed on the roof of Valhalla he released Sookie at once and lowered his head. He made no advance, either toward Eric or the door leading into the building. He didn't need to look up. He could feel the weight of Eric's icy glare boring through him.

He had been too fascinated by what Sookie was doing and had not kept proper track of the time. There was less than half an hour now before dawn. If Eric had not called when he did there is a good chance the Queen would have had no choice but to sleep in Anna's room. The room was heavily guarded but Ferdinand doubted that argument would have mattered to the Norseman.

Eric extended his arm and Sookie ran to him. Because his face was downcast, Ferdinand didn't see it, but Eric's expression softened immediately at Sookie's touch. His arms closed around her and he leaned to kiss her hair. "Come inside, my love."

Sookie told Eric about her encounter with Anna as they made their way through the service corridors and down the flight of stairs leading to their floor.

"She experienced a siege as a child. How interesting. Perhaps her mental problems pre-date Nicholas. This is encouraging news, Dearest."

"I've got to get back to her. I'll have to go tomorrow, as soon as possible. You should have seen her, my darling, her face. She was so grateful and so confused and so happy. She's so full of fear she doesn't understand."

"You'll help her, my love," he said leaning to kiss her. "Have you fed? Or have you been so wrapped in your concern for others Ferdinand has allowed you to neglect yourself."

"Please don't be angry with him. It was my fault we were late."

"Mr. Rodriguez is charged with your care when you are away from me. If there is fault to be assigned, it will be assigned to him. My anger is irrelevant."

Sookie looked up at him with a cocked eyebrow. "Your anger is a lot of things, but I doubt anyone would call it irrelevant."

He grinned and gave her a charming smile. "Then things are as they should be. Come."

They made a brief stop at the donor suite before going home and saying good night to their household. With only a few minutes to spare until the shutters closed for the day and morning broke Eric guided her into their room.

The moment the door clicked closed behind them, Eric spun her round and scooped her into his arms. Her passions enflamed with the urgency of his mouth on hers and the feeling of his strong arms cradling her against his cool hard body.

"Hurry," he whispered as he stood her on their bed and began to strip away his clothes.

"The sun is near." She glanced at the windows just as the light tight shutters began to slide closed for the day. She tossed her dress aside.

"And you have tempted me mercilessly all night," he said hungrily, standing naked before her.

"That's ridiculous," she scoffed as her bra joined the dress. "I haven't been anywhere near you all night. The closest I ever got was walking by your office while I was showing Anna Maria around earlier."

"Exactly," he growled, reaching out, ripping her panties from her and dropping the tattered lace behind him. He grabbed her hips, yanking her forward as he lowered his face to her thigh as if to bite, but he merely kissed her as he drew in a long breath, filling himself with her scent before pushing her back onto her back on the bed. He moved with all the grace and stealth of the predator he was as he advanced on her, his body slowly overshadowing hers. "All night I was without you and tempted to call you to my side."

"I'm here, lover," she purred, resting her feet on either side of his perfect ass as she raised her knees high and wide, pulling him closer as she did. "Come to me."

He needed no such encouragement. Her words were barely free of her lips before his mouth was on her breast, his tongue savoring the salty sweetness of her skin. When his lips surrounded the tender flesh around her nipple and began to suck greedily, she gasped his name and arched into him.

He was consumed by his need for her. He clutched her and rolled until he was on his back with her straddling his hips. "Quickly, my love. The light approaches."

She could feel it, the gentle pull urging her to sleep. She positioned herself over his impatiently waiting erection, it's blood filled head twitching briefly against her clit before finding its mark. As she plunged herself onto him, taking in the full length of his swollen and aching cock in a single thrust, his rumbling groan filled the room like low rolling thunder before a violent storm.

The desperate impetuousness of their desire drove them, unbridled toward orgasm … but the weight of the dawn was too great. Before either could reach release Sookie fell limp on his chest. There, together, they lay united to await the night.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

They woke from death's perfect sleep yet bound together as one flesh.

Never in a thousand years had Eric felt anything to compare with the sensation of coming to life inside her, his lover, his love, his Sookie. His blood rushed to engorge his cock causing her to shiver as she tightened around him and slowly rocked her hips as a soft moan escaped her.

"What a beautiful sound," he murmured, running his hands along each side of her back.

"Mmmmm," she hummed in response, reaching for his face and stretching her body over his before bringing her head to rest on his chest. She held his face in her hands, trailing circles around his ears with the tips of her fingers. "My god, you feel amazing," she whispered as she grazed his nipple with her teeth before taking it in her mouth.

Eric was lost in the ecstasy of her touch. An army could have breached the security of their room and he wouldn't have known or cared. Nothing existed in his world but Sookie, her embrace; her lips on his skin; his cock nestled snugly in her hot wet flesh.

As her hips began to gently rise and fall, his eagerly synced up until they moved in rapturous harmony. When her moans grew louder and melted into cries of pleasure he eased her up from his chest, smiling as their eyes met for the first time since waking. The passion and love he saw there reflected his own.

"Lean back, my lover." With a hand on her stomach, he tenderly pivoted her backward until she had to put her hands down on the bed to support her upper body. As he undulated beneath her, it was she who now fell into his smooth yet more rapid pace.

Once they were in unison, the hand on her stomach slid down until his thumb rested firmly over her clit causing flutters to ricochet through her with their every movement. Every touch served to further enflame their consuming need for release. Flutters became violent spasms and mewling cries blossomed into euphoric screams as they reached their orgasms.

It was all Sookie could manage to pull herself back to her original position, sprawled across Eric's chest.

"Good evening, my love," Eric said with a chuckle as he turned them onto their sides and pulled her up for a kiss.

She smiled and lovingly returned his kiss. "Very good evening."

They laid serenely wrapped in one another's arms for quite some time before Eric kissed the top of her head and said, "I fear we cannot stave off reality indefinitely, my lover. The demands of the evening are upon us"

"Just a little while longer," she pleaded, snuggling tighter into his body. "I don't want to have to think about Leonas and chess games and Anna and courtesans and Thalia."

Her eyes flew open at the memory.

"Courtesans?" Eric questioned with a chuckle.

"Thalia!" Sookie almost shouted as she sprang up onto her knees, looking wide-eyed at Eric.

"Absurd. Thalia has never been a courtesan," he said.

"What? Oh, no, of course she hasn't. Anna Maria is, but I suspect you knew that. We'll get to her in a minute. First I was to talk about Thalia. What is she?"

Eric propped himself up on his elbows. "What do you mean, Dearest?"

"We're not negotiating a business deal, Eric. I don't want to play word games with you."

"Go on."

"When I went to see Mina last night, I saw Thalia. Only she wasn't Thalia. At least she wasn't the Thalia I've always seen before. I mean, I've never seen much of her before, but I've seen her hands and I've seen her face. Well, maybe not all at once, but I've seen enough of it to see how old she must have been when she was turned."

"Have you indeed?" he asked with a smirk. He couldn't help it. It simply wasn't in his nature to be completely forthcoming. Too many centuries of parsing information would not be overcome.

"When I saw her last night, she was a little girl. She didn't look more than eight or nine years old, but it was her. I know it was."

"I'm sure it was. She was escorting Lady Anna to the Hospital last night. I believe tonight is an excellent night for you to announce an intention to spend a good deal of your evening with your injured pet."

"Eric, why did Thalia look like a child?"

"Because she was a child at her turning. She has shown you her true self, something few other vampires have ever seen or are even aware of. Being so new yourself, you can't understand the trust she has placed in you by doing so."

Sookie sat back on her heels and stared into Eric's face as if she would find some further explanation there to help her comprehend his meaning. "You're right. I don't understand. Clear it up for me."

"Thalia's maker wanted a child, not a progeny, an actual child, so she made Thalia and kept her secretly for over twenty years. It is against our laws to make a child vampire. They are very unpredictable and often impossible to control.

When it was discovered what had happened, her maker was arrested and put to death for her crimes, Thalia managed to escape being arrested along with her. She was alone. She learned to care for herself and to avoid other vampires for fear of being killed.

During her years spent hunting and hiding on her own she learned she was able to manipulate the way she appeared to others. She could make herself appear old. If you were to touch her, you would realize her skin is not actually lined and wrinkled. It merely appears so."

"That's why she doesn't like to be touched," Sookie whispered.

"Precisely. But maintaining the illusion requires a tremendous amount of focus and effort on her part. Thus she keeps herself shrouded in hooded robes so she is only required to cast the image in small bits."

"How awful for her. She's a beautiful little girl."

"Do not be confused by her appearance, my love. Thalia hasn't been a little girl for over three hundred years, despite her beauty and deceptive look of innocence. She is an effective and lethal assassin who will kill a fellow vampire as quickly and with no more thought than she would have killing a human or a mosquito for that matter."

"Why would she kill vampires?"

"She killed one to protect you." When Sookie didn't respond right away, he continued. "She is an abomination, Sookie. Most vampires would kill her on sight if she exposed her true self to them. Assuming they were able to overtake her. And they would be breaking no law."

Sookie reached out, placed her hand on his cheek and smiled. She had never adored him more than she did at this moment. "You took her in, knowing what she was. You gave her a home."

"She has earned her keep."

"That's why she loves you. She doesn't have to pretend around you. You're so strong and so confident, you have no idea what it means to have to work so hard at pretending to be something you're not."

Eric's laughter filled the room. "I was a vampire for over a thousand years before The Great Revelation, my love. I know a thing or two about having to conceal ones true identity."

"Well, that's different," was the only thing she could think to say and she realized how silly it sounded the moment she said it.

"Is it? How so?"

"It just is," she countered and before he could shred her argument, she added, "Now about those courtesans?"

"Ah, yes." He smiled and stood up. "The Ambassador often travels with courtesans at times when he has no formal mistress. He enjoys their company. As do many. Anna Maria has long been a favorite at the Lithuanian court, but in this case she was chosen because she was the closest physical match to Lady Anna who could be found on such short notice."

Sookie listened intently, taking in all he was saying. "Whose favorite has she long been?"

Eric's smile broadened. "Alas, I do not have a list of her suitors to provide for you. Perhaps if you asked the lady, she would accommodate you."

Sookie's brows furrowed and her mouth began to purse into a most unpleasant position. "I'm asking you."

"If you are asking if she was ever my favorite, the answer is no. However I suspect you have something rather more specific in mind."

She crossed her arms. "Clever boy."

"Yes, I have known the comforts of her bed. It was long ago and I have no interest in revisiting there. She has nothing to compare with even the simple joy of standing here watching the jealousy flash in your eyes. Surely you cannot expect me to have been faithful to you centuries before we had even met?"

Her face slowly cracked into a smile. "I hate it when you're reasonable."

"Almost as much as I adore you when you're unreasonable." He laughed again and grabbed her off the bed. "Come. The evening awaits."


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30 - **Anna's Story, part 1 of 2

.

Sookie entered Anna's room alone. She had sent Ferdinand in to get Ausra and bring her out. Ferdinand and Oliver stood together in the doorway of Mina's room across the hall. She had ordered them to stay in Mina's room with Ausra and Anna Maria, but she knew they weren't likely to obey. At least one of them would find a reason to be out in the hall to keep watch.

"You've come back." The surprise was clear in her voice. "After the fright of your last visit I didn't expect you would return."

Sookie smiled and took Anna's hand. "Why should we be afraid? We're just friends talking about the past. Nothing there can hurt us any more. It can make us sad when we think about it, but it can't hurt us."

Sookie and Anna walked the few steps to the arched wooden door where a ten-year-old Anna sits, huddled in a cellar with her mother and sisters. "We've already looked here," Sookie said softly. She looked up the long corridor of doors and asked, "How far to the next one you can't get to close?"

Anna's eyes moved slowly to the very next door on that same side of the hall. "Only steps," she whispered.

Sookie took three steps, with Anna hesitating but acquiescing and following behind her until they stood together before the next door. It was the color of amber and almost square. It would be barely high enough for Lady Anna to walk through in her bare feet. It appeared to be closed, but when you looked closely you could see it had merely been pushed just into the frame. Not closed enough for any kind of inner latch to be engaged.

"Can we open it and see what's inside?" Sookie asked.

"I know what's inside," Anna said, her voice filled with pain. "Betrayal."

Without saying anything else, Sookie reached out and took hold of the large bracketed handle and pulled the door open.

Inside was a large room which appeared to serve as a combination sitting and dining room. A heavy wood dining table occupied one side with a sofa and several comfortable chairs and a few small tables on the opposite side.

Anna and her sisters were seated in dining chairs in the center of the room as if they were on display. The eldest, Aanor, was settled in the front most chair, with Anna and the middle sister Adal in chairs side by side behind her. All three girls sat quietly and expressionless with their hands folded in their laps.

The mother sat straight backed and stoic in a nearby cushioned chair, keeping a watchful eye on her daughters and casting occasional furtive glances at the two men who were deep in conversation as they stood next to the fireplace. The men looked to be around the same age. Sookie placed them probably somewhere between thirty-five and forty. One was likely Anna's father.

Sookie looked again at the girls. They were clean and well dressed but didn't seem to be as frilly and fancy as they had been before. Their mother was different as well. She wasn't the frightened out of her wits socialite mother desperately clinging to her middle child in the basement of a wealthy country manor house. Here was a woman who was learning to face the harsh realities of her new circumstances. This small house was where she now lived with her husband and children.

Sookie turned her attention back to the two men. She decided the better dressed of the two must be the visitor.

After a minute, the visitor sauntered over to where the girls were sitting. Young Anna fidgeted slightly in her chair. For a second she looked as if she might bolt and run, but she settled and kept her seat. The visitor looked down his long nose at Aanor. She sat perfectly still and stared at her hands in her lap.

"Look up at me, girl," the visitor commanded.

Aanor glanced behind the man, to her father who nodded his consent. Aanor took a long breath, held it and looked up.

"She has a very pretty face," the visitor said. His voice was harsh and the way he spoke stripped his words of any compliments they may have held if spoken by another. "Not so pretty as the youngest there." He made a quick gesture in Anna's direction. "But I cannot wait for her."

Sookie felt a cold chill suddenly run through her. "Anna, what's happening here? Who is that man?"

Anna's grip on Sookie's hand tightened as if she was gathering her strength to speak. "He is Count Guerin Von Strauss. The new king gave him our house and all of Papa's lands. They took all Papa's money too. Mama sold all her jewelry, but it wasn't enough.

The Count's wife died in the spring and he has two young children, a boy and a girl."

"Oh my god," Sookie gasped as the realization of what was going on here hit her between the eyes. She'd read about it in books and even seen characters talk about it in old movies, but to stand here and see it actually being done? Sookie was both horrified and fascinated as she watched Anna's father selling his oldest daughter into marriage. "He sold her right there in front of all of you. How awful for you!"

Sookie threw her arms around Anna and Anna responded in kind. The scene looked rather backward since due to their height difference Sookie's head was resting on Anna's shoulder. It looked as though Anna was comforting Sookie. And so she may have been if you judged by the lullaby sound of Anna's voice as she spoke.

"Shhh," Anna hummed as she gently stroked Sookie's hair. "Aanor did not bear the burden alone. He sold us all. He had to, you see? He and Mama couldn't be poor."

"No! I don't see," Sookie wailed, pulling back enough to look Anna in the eye. Surely she wasn't crazy enough to think this was alright?

Anna smiled sweetly at Sookie as if she was indulging a child who had asked a particularly ignorant question. "You have to be clever to be poor, my friend. Anyone can be rich because rich people don't have to do anything. They surround themselves with people to do everything for them. But if you're poor, you must know how to do everything for yourself. Papa and Mama didn't know how to do anything so they didn't know how to teach us to do anything. They had no choice. We couldn't be poor. We would have died."

Anna furrowed her eyebrows as she repeated the words her mother had said to her over and over again; words she had repeated to herself thousands of times over the centuries. She had never understood the words and she still didn't, but she had always assumed it was some deficiency of intelligence on her part which kept the meaning from her.

She seemed to drift away for a moment before saying, "I think it must be different now, because Vincentas is very rich and he is also very clever. I've heard people say so, many times. I think he must know how to do a great number of things."

"Eric thinks Vincentas is very clever," Sookie responded.

Having her opinion validated seemed to make Anna happy. She smiled that radiant smile and Sookie couldn't help but smile back. "Is he clever as well?" Anna asked.

"Eric is the smartest person I know," Sookie said truthfully.

"Vincentas promised me I would always be rich. He said I would never have to do anything if I didn't want to and I would never have to sell my jewels or anything else which was mine."

Anna reached over and touched Sookie's necklace. "It's beautiful. Do you think Nicholas would ever make you sell it?"

"Never," Sookie answered without hesitation. "Eric would do anything before he would ask me to give up something he had given me."

"You and I are lucky," Anna said with a rueful smile. "Mama wasn't so lucky. Papa made her give up everything she loved."

"You said he sold you all. How long was it before he sold Adal?"

Anna pulled away. "I don't re-, I - I don't,"

"You don't remember?"

"No. I mean, yes. I – I do remember."

Sookie put her hand on the door. "Is there any more in this room? Aside from your father's betrayal?"

Anna looked confused for a moment. "It wasn't Papa who betrayed us. He was very much as he always was. He never liked us much. We disappointed him. Mama had five children you see. Two were boys. One before Aanor, he would have been the oldest, and another between Aanor and Adal.

The boys both died before I was born. The oldest was named Richard. He lived to be five years old. The one between Aanor and Adal died a few days after he was born. I don't think he was ever given a name, or if he was, I never knew it.

Papa never forgave Mama for having girl children rather than more boys, and he never forgave me because after me, Mama never had any more children at all. Once when he was angry he told me I ruined her and stole his chances of having a proper heir.

"Oh, Anna," Sookie sighed. "I'm so sorry."

"Why? Papa was a man with only anger in his heart. He felt life had cheated him. He was the Duke; ruler of the Duchy. He had everything; money, power, a beautiful wife, but it was never enough. Nothing made him happy. I tried to love him. We all did. I never expected anything good from him, and I never got it.

But Mama, she had always been so warm and kind. She would sing to us and tell us wonderful stories. She would smother us with hugs and kisses and tell us over and over again how much she loved us. But after we had to leave our big house, she was never happy again. She never sang or laughed. She rarely smiled. She was always afraid after that.

If someone closed a door or a cupboard suddenly, she would jump or scream, and every time Papa would take something else away she would become more sad. He took the silver sconces and the pretty plates. He took paintings and the small tapestry Mama saved from when we left our big house. Then when everything else was gone, he took Mama's jewels, the ones her mother had given her and the ones he had given her as well. She cried for days when he took her last ring.

She knew the Count was coming that day and she knew what Papa was going to do. She helped us bathe in a tub filled with water and sprinkled with crushed rose petals so it smelled sweet and made us smell sweet. She helped us dress in the best dresses we still had. She hummed a tune as she combed and tied ribbons in our hair. She told us nothing.

She let us believe we were getting ready for a fine dinner or a party. She told us the Count was coming, so we thought everything was going to be good again, because surely Papa wouldn't invite the Count otherwise.

It was so confusing when we came downstairs. The Count was sitting on the sofa. He was the only guest, but the table had not been set for either dinner or guests. We were told to walk one by one and stand in front of the hearth for a count of ten, then take a seat in one of the chairs in the center of the room, with Aanor taking the front seat. We had no idea what was happening, but Mama knew. The Count was being offered his choice of us. I was not yet twelve years old.

Look." Anna removed Sookie's hand from the door and pointed into the room.

The Count and Anna's father were shaking hands. As they did, Anna's mother silently rose from her chair and walked out of the room. Sookie and Anna both watched as she disappeared up the stairs and they listened as she closed her bedroom door behind her.

"They know now something is terribly wrong. They have never been left alone in a room with men before, not even if it was their father alone."

Anna's blank stare was that of a woman who had accepted the inevitable. Sookie wondered if she had ever stood outside this very door and begged her younger self and her sisters to run and try to save themselves. They were so powerless and their mother was so weak and afraid. She couldn't bear to see one taken away so she left them there with no one to draw strength from. Of course, she'd had none to offer.

"Aanor, stand," their father ordered. The choice had been made.

Aanor held the sides of the seat so tight her knuckles were white and she began trembling all over. "Papa?" she squeaked. Her pleading voice was small and terrified, not at all the brave girl from the cellar who kept Anna from falling apart during the siege.

"Stand," he repeated.

"I'll send someone for her things tomorrow. The wedding will be in one week's time. You will of course be expected to attend," the Count said in a businesslike tone.

Anna pushed the door as the weeping began. "Help me," she begged, closing her eyes against the pain of her sister's distraught tears.

Sookie threw herself against the door, slamming it into place with a crash. When it closed, Anna seemed to wither and Sookie caught her between her own body and the wall. "I'm here, Anna. We're together and nothing can harm us here."

"I remember," Anna said softly.

"What do you remember?" Sookie asked.

"Adal," she answered as she straightened herself and bore her own weight again. "Count Von Strauss took Aanor away that night and just as he said, their wedding was the following week. Aanor was so beautiful but she looked so unhappy. She was smiling so no one else knew, but I knew.

Papa met Droyn Körtig at the wedding. When we got home Papa smiled and announced he had met Adal's future husband. Adal was 15 at the time and Mr. Körtig said he was not prepared to take her just then. He was building a new house on his property and it was not yet finished. He would send for her in six months when the construction was complete."

Anna walked across the hall and sat down cross-legged on the floor. She patted the cool tile next to her and Sookie sat. In front of them was a small, pale pink door, no more than two feet high. It was ajar maybe ten centimeters but no light escaped. Anna flung the door open and stared into the nothing inside.

"For so long I've seen this door and it was so small I wasn't afraid to open it. I would sit here for hours, or maybe it was days or weeks, I don't know for certain, but I never saw anything, only the blackness."

"But you said this was Adal's door," Sookie reminded her. "Didn't you ever see Adal in here? Or at least hear her?"

"No," Anna said, shaking her head. "Never."

"Then how did you know it was Adal's door?"

"I didn't," Anna said as if the answer was obvious. "Not until only a few moments ago, yet I can remember many, many years of seeing this door here." Anna cocked her head and turned her gaze to Sookie. "I must be very old after all these years. I remember these things so clearly, yet nothing looks the same now as it did then. There have been many changes and the changes took a very long time. How old am I?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know. No one has every told me and I've never asked."

"I shall have to try and remember to ask someone else. Maybe Nicholas will know."

"Eric might know. He's known you a lot longer than I have. I still don't know why this is Adal's door, though."

"Oh, because six months later a coach came. It was the most wonderful coach I'd ever seen. Every bit of wood was carved with the most exciting scenes of far away places and inside everything was soft and downy. Adal was going to be very rich, maybe even richer than the Count, certainly richer than Papa had ever been. Mr. Körtig was much too busy to come to fetch Adal himself. The coach would bring her to him.

I kissed her goodbye and never saw her again. Papa said Mr. Körtig's estates were too far away to allow for visiting. So this room is empty. I could never see her, because she was never here, she was gone." Anna extended her hand and gently nudged the door. When it reached the point where it had always stopped and remained ajar, she smiled and said, "Goodbye, Adal."

With nothing more than the light pressure of Anna's hand resting against it, the door moved and for the first time ever, she heard it snap shut. "It is as if she was waiting for me to remember our parting."

"Maybe she was," Sookie offered, taking Anna's hand in hers.

"Perhaps." Anna stood, pulling Sookie along with her. She smiled that thousand watt smile and said, "Come, I'll introduce you to Nicholas." She began walking at a brisk pace down the hall which seemed to become lit as they progressed so they were never actually in the dark despite the section ahead of them always appearing darkened.

They had passed maybe two dozen doors when Anna stopped outside a highly polished, dark wood door nearly three meters high and at least a meter wide. It was opened just a crack and as Anna reached to grab the large doorknob, Sookie put a hand on Anna's arm.

"I thought you said Nicholas was at the end of the hallway," Sookie said, pointing down into the still darkened portion of the hall.

"Nicholas as he is now is down there," Anna said almost dismissively. "This is Nicholas before all the unpleasantness between here and there."

Anna's smile took on an almost dreamlike quality as she swung the slightly open door until it lay flush against the wall. Sookie could hear the adoration in Anna's sigh and see it in Anna's eyes as she gazed out at the very young couple in the meadow before them.

A young, but almost fully developed Anna was sitting in the grass with a straw hat in her lap. By her side was a small basket filled with wild flowers much like the ones she and her sisters were braiding into their hair when they were children.

The boy was probably not yet twenty and very good looking. His hair was a dark blond, not at all like Eric's and clipped neat just above his shoulders. His eyes were blue; but again, darker. He was on horseback, so it was difficult to tell exactly, but he was tall and very lean. He had the ruddy complexion of someone who spent a good deal of time outdoors, but he was wearing gloves to protect his hands, so he likely didn't spend that outdoor time doing any hard work. The boy was riding in slow circles around the girl, taking great care to make sure he wasn't coming so close there was any danger of the horse injuring her if it should be startled by an insect or small animal and make an unexpected move.

"You were so beautiful, even then," Sookie said with just a tinge of jealousy. Even with this clear visual confirmation Eric was definitely not, nor had he ever been Nicholas, it was hard not be a little jealous of someone so stunning even when she was so obviously so young. "How old are you here?"

"Fourteen next month," she answered dreamily. "He's eighteen and the best rider in all the Duchy. Everyone says so. All the girls are in love with him, but he never talks to any of them when he visits here. He tells me he never talks to any of the girls in the other places he goes either."

Teen Anna takes a flower with a long thin stem from her basket and tucks it into the wide lavender ribbon on her hat. "And what if I should decide I do not wish to marry?" she teases without looking up at the boy on the horse. "I might decide to run away to someplace where you would never find me."

Holding his saddle with his left hand, Nicholas leans to his right until his face is below his knee and he dramatically grabs his chest over where his heart would be with his right hand. "No, you love me too well to leave me here to languish and die alone."

"I've never said I loved you at all," she pouted. She had apparently grown bored with her first choice of flower. She discarded it and replaced it with two others chosen from her basket. "Besides, you wouldn't be alone for a single day if I left. Any number of girls would happily marry you in my stead, probably several of them at once. I hear they do that sort of thing in some places."

"Impossible," he disagreed vehemently. "I would indeed be desolate and alone and I would surely die for my heart will beat only for you, beautiful Anna. So you see, you must marry me; else you condemn me to certain death. Could a lovely and delicate flower such as yourself live with such a cruel and mercenary act on your conscience?"

He stared at her as his horse continued to prance in circles. The contrast of his blond hair against the dark chestnut stallion was striking and the picture of them circling the beautiful girl in the lavender dress sitting serenely in the center of a meadow was beyond dazzling. It was magical and he was wooing her with such determination, how could she not fall in love with him?

"I believe he loved you," Sookie said.

"Yes. He first saw me at Aanor's wedding, but I don't remember seeing him there. His father was a friend of the new king who had taken over our Duchy and absorbed it into his kingdom. I didn't understand at the time, but I've learned since, though I couldn't always remember all the pieces at the same time. For some reason it all seems very clear today."

"I think it must be easier to see clearly when there aren't so many open doors blocking your view," Sookie offered.

"I think you may be right about that."

"If you didn't notice him at the wedding, when did you first meet him?"

Anna blushed at the thought of relaying what Nicholas had told her. She had never told anyone before. "He told his father after the wedding he had seen the girl he would marry, but his father only scoffed. Soon his father began to introduce him to prospective brides, but he refused them all. He said he would have none but the girl called Anna he saw at the Graf's wedding."

"The Graf?"

"It means Count. Anyway, Nicholas' father came and summoned my Papa to the Count's home. Papa had been Duke and he still had his title. Nicholas' father bought me for Nicholas and Papa's title for himself. After that Papa said I had now taken not only his prospects for heirs, but the birthright he would have passed to them as well.

Nicholas visited often. He would stay as a guest of the Count and he would see Aanor every day and carry messages between us. Aanor was not happy in her marriage, but I knew I would be happy with Nicholas. He promised it every day I saw him. He swore he would dedicate himself to making me the happiest woman on Earth.

But we never got the chance for that to happen."

Anna shivered, as if a sudden chilled wind had blown over her.

"It's nice to have happy moments like this one to look back on," Sookie said with a smile. "We can think back when we're sad or low, or just when we want to think of something we know will make us smile, but we don't need to think about it all the time."

"You want me to give him up because you want all of him. Even the part before you knew him," Anna whimpered.

"No, Anna, no," Sookie insisted, grabbing Anna's shoulders and looking up into her face. "I don't want Nicholas at all. He's your memory. I could never take him from you, even if I wanted to. But I don't want to. I have Eric and he's all I'll ever want."

"I can come back here if I wish to."

"Of course you can. We won't destroy the door; only close it so it doesn't get in your way. You can come back here any time you want and open it again. Then when you've enjoyed your memory, you can close the door again and come back to your real life, here in the present."

"With Vincentas? Is he the present?"

"Yes, Vincentas is the present and he loves you so, just as much as Nicholas did. He wants you to be with him always and he wants you to be happy."

"Vincentas has taken me to his bed," Anna said with a shy smile. "We have done what Nicholas wanted to do with me. There are many women at court who go to the beds of the men there, but not to Vincentas. They do not go to his bed. They are not permitted. Only I may go to his bed. The guards must stand aside for me alone."

"That's how he proves he loves you," Sookie answered.

Anna looked down the dark hall. "Vincentas is here someplace. He must be. I've looked for him, but I can't find him here. Perhaps you can help me find him. The next open door is not too far from here." Almost absentmindedly Anna pushed on the heavy door. When it was almost closed, she faltered.

"It's alright," Sookie said, placing her hand over Anna's. "I'll help you. We'll do it together." Sookie applied just the tiniest bit of pressure and the door clicked closed.

Anna's body gave a little jerk as if she had accidentally touched an electrical wire. "I'm alright," she said with wonder. "I'm not a little girl any more." She looked down as she ran her hands over her body. "My form is that of a youth, yet I have many memories." Her face began to contort as she thought harder and tried to formulate her thoughts into something which made sense. "I have too many memories." She stared at her hands and suddenly grabbed Sookie's hand to stare at it. "How old are you?"

"Anna," Sookie said quickly, as she tried to pull her hand back. " I think we need to focus on the doors right now. We can talk about age and anything else you like when we've finished."

"I don't have a glass, so I can't see my face, but look at our hands. Mine are younger than yours. Answer the question. How old are you?"

"Twenty-nine."

"You are not yet thirty and I am less." She released Sookie's hand. "This doesn't seem possible. There are only three more open doors. Perhaps the answer is there. Come."

Anna marched up the corridor with a determined glare which dissolved into a look of sheer panic followed by a piercing scream when she flung open a door painted over in black.

The door had been the front door to their modest house; the same almost square door they shad seen earlier, but then it had been amber colored. The room where Aanor had been sold to the Count was now dimly lit and the comfortable sitting room furniture had been replaced with a row of beds. It looked like a small hospital ward.

"What happened?" Sookie asked, the horror in her own eyes now mirroring Anna's.

"Plague," Anna answered in a voice so hushed it was barely above a whisper. "I was only just sixteen. Nicholas and I were to be married in three weeks time.

Papa got sick first. He had gone to a neighboring village to buy wine. He didn't want to buy wine from the Count's winery. He said he would not spend his coins in businesses rightfully his. He died in the bed there, in the corner, but of course he was not down here.

Since he was first, he died in his bedroom, but not before he spread the disease to everyone else. Aanor had come to visit with her children before Papa knew he was ill. And then of course, after her visit she went home. Within two weeks my entire family was gravely sick. The Count sent Aanor and their children back here to die, hoping it was in time for him to be spared. It wasn't.

Everyone in this room died, Papa, Mama, Aanor, her three children and even a chambermaid. I cried and cried. It was so strange. Everyone was sick and there was so much illness and pain and crying and then one day it slowly stopped. One by one they died, all on the same day.

I ran all the way to the Count's house. I banged on the door and screamed for Nicholas. I knew he was in there but no one would let me see him. The Count had ordered the house be sealed and no one was to be allowed to come inside.

I fell asleep on the veranda. I hadn't eaten in days. I was exhausted. I just collapsed there. I woke up for a moment and saw I had been loaded onto the dead cart. I was too weak to move. When I turned my head, I saw the Count lying dead beside me. I tried to scream, but I fainted instead."

Anna turned her back on the scene inside and looked over to Sookie. Her expression was worn and frazzled. Once again she held up a hand and stared at it as if willing it to speak. "I fear this supple skin lies. I feel very old." She held her hand outstretched to Sookie. "Will you help me?"

Sookie didn't speak. She clasped Anna's hand and together they pushed the door closed before silently moving up the darkened hall.

Sookie glanced up to find they had arrived in the last section of the hall. The wall at the end was a mural of all the people in Anna's life. There were a few empty patches painted in even pastels to keep the spaces from being devoid of color. In the very center was a large oval waiting to be filled in with someone's face. Sookie saw Nicholas and Anna in a lower corner. The empty space must be for Eric, she thought.

"The wall is gorgeous. Did you paint it?"

"I've never seen it before," Anna responded dully.

"But I thought -,"

"Oh I've been here hundreds of times. Thousands, but I've never seen that mural." Anna looked as though she couldn't be bothered. She was focused on the last door.

The last door on the right was standing wide open. From where they were standing, Sookie couldn't see much of what was inside, but it appeared to be solid white with hints of gold. Good god, Sookie thought, she's got him in her version of heaven. That would have to wait. Right now they had rocks to deal with.

The wall surrounding the door in front of them was made of stones the size of heads, piled high and mortared heavily to keep them in place. The door its self was an assembly of planks held together by strips of some kind of metal nailed crossways over the planks. In place of a doorknob there was a thick length of rope sticking out from a hole in the door. The rope had a huge double knot at the end. You would need very large hands to hold the knot as if it was a knob. Sookie wasn't sure if Eric could even do it.

No light came from inside. There was only shadow on the floor in the sliver of space the door was open.

"I do not want to open this door." Anna stood between Sookie and the door. "Something bad is there."

"What is it?"

"I do not know, but I know I do not wish to see it."

"We've looked into so many doors tonight, Anna. Most of them had something painful inside, but we looked anyway and when we looked, you saw they couldn't hurt you any more. You could look at them and be sad at the memory, but then you could close the door and move on. You didn't have to carry that sadness with you."

"I cannot move past what is behind this door," Anna said with certainty.

"Of course you can," Sookie assured her. "Look at you. You're here. Whatever is behind that door is a memory of yours. Your mind has stored it here. It's part of your past. If it's in the past and you're still here, you made it through."

"It isn't possible."

"Anything is possible," Sookie said as she stepped quickly around Anna and grabbed the rope between the knot and the door.

"No!" Anna screamed as Sookie opened the door.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31** –- Anna's Story, part 2 of 2

.

"No!" Anna screamed as Sookie opened the door.

It was night.

The moon and stars hung bright in the clear night sky, their reflections glistening on the thick shiny mud covering ground below. The three constantly burning fires on the far side of this former meadow cast eerie dancing shadows well past the sphere of their warmth. There were three horses grazing on the few patches of grass still offered by the once lush meadow floor. They didn't seem to notice the two women staring in at them.

"What is this place?" Sookie asked. Her tone was low and edged with fear.

"Death," Anna replied. "I understand now."

"What do you understand?" Sookie asked, tearing herself away from the scene before her, to look at Anna.

"I died here. I am a phantom and this," she gestured up and down the hall before meeting Sookie's gaze, "this must be purgatory. If we close all the doors will I go on to heaven?"

"We're not in purgatory, Anna. We're in your mind with your memories, the things that upset you and you have trouble remembering."

"That seems unlikely," Anna said, shifting her focus back to the muddied ground in front of them.

Sookie moved to Anna's side, but did not touch her. "Can you tell me about this place?"

"This is where they bring the dead. There are three men. I only see two of them now. The third must be sleeping. The three of them go by turns, walking through the village gathering the dead. They load the bodies on their carts and bring them back here to be thrown into the fires. The fires burn all day and all night. They never stop. Our world became a living hell of sickness and death and flame.

I must have died on the Count's veranda and been brought here to be burnt."

"But you said you remembered being put on the cart. You weren't dead. You were either ill or weak from overwork and not sleeping," Sookie said. "Why are we so far from the fires?"

"The cart stopped at the first fire and the man began to unload it. I saw him unload the Count and there was another." Anna's face scrunched into a most unpleasant expression, something between concentration and maddening frustration. "I recognized him even though his hair was matted to the sores on his face. I knew him, but I can't recall him now. Perhaps he was a stable boy. I don't know. He is dead now.

I tried to reach out to him but my arms wouldn't move. The dead boy was taken from the cart to be thrown on the fire. I would be next. The man would come back for me and I would burn because I was too weak to move.

But before I could be taken to the fires, the animals came for me."

"What?" Sookie's eyes quickly cast about the scene inside the door. "What animals, Anna? The only animals I see are the horses."

Anna stepped into the doorframe, joining Sookie's search. "It must be somewhere in here. Perhaps it is hiding. Papa always said even the strongest animals are shy and they won't come out among people unless they're ill or starving. It was something large, a wolf or maybe a bear. It must have been starving because I believe it must have started eating me before it even had me out of the cart."

Anna lifted a slender hand to her neck as she remembered. "I was watching the boy. He had been so handsome and strong and now he was being tossed into the flames as if he was no more than a loose armload of twigs tied up in sackcloth. I felt something pulling at me. I assumed it was one of the other men unloading me to join the boy in the fire.

Only it wasn't another man. It couldn't have been. It was an animal. It bit me. I was to be spared the flames only to be eaten."

"You weren't eaten, Anna" Sookie stated emphatically.

"I told you, I was. I felt the creature strike. I was buried there." Anna pointed to a spot on the ground where the soil had obviously been recently disturbed.

"Who buried you?" Sookie asked.

"My family, of course," Anna spat back.

"But Anna, your family is all dead."

Anna's eyes darted wildly as she desperately searched her thoughts for an explanation. Something was scratching at the back of her mind; something too ridiculous for words. "Those men, obviously they decided to bury me."

"Why would they do that? Why wouldn't they just throw you on the fire with everybody else?"

"I don't know!" Anna cried. She was trembling now and she sank to her knees. "Why are you doing this? It's all in pieces and the pieces don't fit. I can't answer any more questions. I don't know any more answers. Who do you think it was who buried me?"

"I think it was the same person who bit you."

"Same person who bit me?" Her confusion and revulsion couldn't have been more clear. "What are you talking about? It was an- it was; wasn't it? No. It couldn't have been. An animal with its teeth in my neck couldn't have pulled me off that cart without tearing me to shreds." As Anna sat on her knees in the hall, rubbing her neck and staring by moonlight into her bleak surroundings on a muddy evening long ago, the pieces began to snap into place. Her eyes grew wide as one hand, then the other clamped over her mouth suppressing the scream fighting to be released.

Sookie followed Anna's stare. She gasped and jumped backward as a hand broke free from the mud. Someone was rising.

Anna swayed back as if she was going to faint. Sookie dropped to her side and caught her. The two women clung together as they watched Leonas and the newly turned Anna rise from the mud.

"My god," Anna whispered heavily. "It wasn't a bear. It was him. I died, yet I am not dead."

"He was a vampire," Sookie said. "He still is."

"Vincentas' brother. He tried to be kind to me, but I was so afraid. He got so angry when others were near and I wanted to go to them. He wanted to follow Vin-" Anna lurched forward toward the door where Leonas was dragging a struggling Anna toward a stream. "Vincentas. Where is Vincentas? We always followed him. He was always near."

"I'm sure he's somewhere close by," Sookie assured her, as she grabbed the back of Anna's blouse to keep her from crawling through the door. "Why are you struggling so?"

"I don't know what is happening. I'm covered in mud and I'm so hungry. I can't remember when I've last eaten. I feel so different, and the sounds, the sounds are overwhelming. It seems I can hear everything. I hear myself fighting against Leonas, that's his name, Leonas, I hear the birds, their wings are deafening. I can even hear the insects creeping in the earth and things moving in the trees as we pass.

Leonas has thrown me in the water. I scream for Nicholas but he doesn't come. He has never come to me when I screamed for him. He said he loves me, yet he never comes, no matter how much I cry and plead." Anna's red-rimmed eyes have the look of a lost child who has suddenly found herself separated from her mother. "Something is wrong, very wrong. Leonas says I have to come with him now. He's so strong. I feel strong, much stronger than I ever did before, but I'm not. He's so much stronger. I have no one. My family is dead and Nicholas won't come."

Sookie watched as Anna's body gracefully folded and her hands reached out to the floor for support. After a moment Anna brought one hand to her stomach. "I'm so famished, I feel hollow," she said as her head lolled.

"No," Anna said softly, then her voice became more insistent. "No, I can't do that. What are you doing? No!"

Sookie looked up and into the door. Anna was sitting beside the stream and Leonas was holding the limp body of the man whose cart Anna had been in. The man's head was bleeding. Leonas had knocked him out. He was trying to get Anna to feed and she was resisting.

Sookie watched as Anna fought until Leonas tore the man's throat open with his teeth and shoved the bleeding wound into Anna's face. Overcome by her instincts, she fed.

On the hall floor, present day Anna is on all fours again choking and gagging. Sookie reaches out to her as she begins to cry. Two – three – four crimson tears splash onto the tile making tiny plinking sounds. The fifth drop strikes Anna's hand. She springs upright, holding her hand outstretched in front of her.

"You're alright, Anna," Sookie said slowly as she stroked Anna's back.

Anna glanced at Sookie as she reached up with her other hand and touched the stream of tears on her face. She drew her trembling hand back, saw the blood and brought her fingers to her nose. "The wine," she breathed.

Sookie nodded.

Anna lowered her hand to her mouth and the moment her fingertip touched her tongue, she could feel her fangs drop. She closed her eyes, licked the blood from her fingers and moved her fingers to touch one fang, then the other.

For several minutes they sat in motionless silence, until, at length, Anna opened her eyes. With her eyes clear and all signs of tremors or nervousness gone from her expression she looked at Sookie, not for support, but for confirmation when she stated, "It wasn't a nightmare. I am a vampire."

"Yes," Sookie said simply.

"For how long?" Anna asked. "I know you said you didn't know exactly how old I am, but surely someone has mentioned approximately how long ago this happened?"

Sookie could see no reason to lie. The panic and confusion which was in Anna's voice before when she asked about her age wasn't there anymore. "About six hundred years."

"I see. Well that certainly explains a lot." Anna looked at Sookie as if for the first time. "But not you. You look very different from the first time we met. You have not been a vampire for six hundred years."

"No, Eric turned me the night you and I first met, after the Gala."

"But your turning was different. You were in love. I suspect it was your choice."

"Yes."

Anna looked at the frightened and confused girl sitting beside a stream, soaking wet and covered with mud and blood.

"I can remember it now. I was so terrified and I didn't understand. I convinced myself it was a nightmare and I would wake up soon. Leonas kept telling me what to do, but he never told me what we were. He never told me why everything was so different. I would fight against him. I would try to cry out for help, but whenever anyone would see me, they would run. Leonas would always catch them. He was so fast. He would catch them and force me to-.

I was afraid all the time. I missed my family. I missed Nicholas. I missed the sun and I was so tired of hiding. Eventually I stopped fighting. It was no use. Leonas was too strong. So I came here." Anna smiled and looked around her glistening hallway.

"Let's close this door, Anna," Sookie suggested as she stood and extended a hand to Anna.

Anna took Sookie's hand and they shoved the heavy door until it closed tight. Then both of them turned their heads to the end of the hall. The last door was still standing wide open and a formerly empty place in the wall mural now showed Anna sitting beside a stream with Leonas beside her.

"Shall we?" Anna asked with a firm grip on Sookie's hand.

The last room was awash in bright white light and was empty save for one thing, a life-sized portrait of Eric in a heavy gilt frame.

For all its simplicity, it was stunning. Eric was standing in a room, next to a shuttered window, in broad daylight. The shutters were mostly open, thus allowing him to be bathed in sunlight as he stood with his left elbow on the plain wood windowsill. In his right hand, he held his sword as if it was a walking stick, with his arm extended and the tip resting on the floor.

He was dressed very simply, a collarless white undershirt of some kind beneath a plain brown tunic which covered his hips and was made from what looked like a heavier fabric. It was belted at the waist with cords of braided leather, but not tight enough to show how lean he was. His loose fitting breeches matched the tunic and were tucked into clean, but unembellished knee high leather boots.

In fact the only thing not completely ordinary about his attire was the cape he had slung over his right shoulder and held around his neck by a leather strap with a heavy metal clasp. The cape was fur and obviously not cut in straight lines. Sookie felt sure if she were to take it off him, she would find it was made of roughly sewn together pelts of some kind.

"Isn't he magnificent?" Anna asked with a huge smile on her face and adoration dripping from her lips.

"It's a wonderful portrait," Sookie agreed. "Is this the one from where you and Vincentas live?"

"Yes. Vincentas insisted he stand for it. I can't recall the artist's name, but he was very skilled. It was painted at night, in the storeroom off the stable. I asked if it could be made daylight because I always loved the way the sunlight danced in Nicholas' hair. The artist complained, but Vincentas made him make it day."

"Thank you," Sookie whispered, taking a step into the room in order to get closer to the portrait. "I've always wanted to see him in the sun. He's just how I've imagined he would be." She was every bit as beguiled by the portrait as Anna had always been.

"Even though he never came, no matter how much I cried; I never lost my love for him. If the plague had never come, I know he would have married me and taken me way from Papa and made me happy.

But the plague did come and everything changed."

Anna suddenly looked at Sookie, her eyes filled with questions. "Do you suppose it was Leonas who changed Nicholas as well? Maybe he changed him and forbade him from coming to me? Or perhaps Vincentas changed him?"

"I don't think Nicholas was ever changed, Anna. I don't know what happened to him."

"Don't be ridiculous," Anna scoffed. "This portrait was painted many years after the plague was nothing but a memory. Too many years for him to still appear so youthful. If I am at least six hundred years old, so is Nicholas if he was here recently enough to turn you."

"Nicholas didn't turn me," Sookie said softly. "Eric did."

As she spoke his name, she felt the familiar sense of warm calm flow through her, which meant he was near. She smiled as he laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Come, Dearest, we must go."

"Conjuring voices won't deter me!" Anna cried. "I've had enough of your lies. Leave this place!"

"Anna wait!"

But it was too late. Sookie was out of Anna's head and back in the done over hospital room. Sookie scrambled up and tried to go to Anna whose eyes were glazed over as she sat there on the opposite side of the table, but Eric snatched her up and whispered in her ear.

"He is coming, Sookie. He will be here any moment. Even now he is on his way. He suspects you of something, though I do not believe he is certain of what. We must go and Lady Anna must come as well."

"But Eric, she isn't finished. She hasn't come out. Look at her. We can't make her move now. Let me go back in. Give me a few more minutes and I'll bring her out with me."

"No. There is no time." Eric stepped back from the table carrying Sookie with him.

"Five more minutes, Eric, please!" Sookie pleaded as she tried to wrestle her way free of him.

"Not now, my love. If we can get to some place safe, you can try again, but we cannot stay now. Oliver, Ferdinand, escort Lady Anna."

"Be careful with her!" Sookie said pitifully. Things had been going so well and they were so close to the end and now this. She watched as Oliver and Ferdinand each took a side and lifted Anna from her chair as if she was a life-sized doll, her vacant stare unchanged.

In her hall of memories, Anna sat on the clean tile floor of a brightly lit white room, weeping in despair at the feet of Eric's portrait.

Still carrying Sookie, Eric opened the door just as Thalia was reaching to open it from the hall.

"You're here, my lord. King Leonas has just arrived downstairs. He will be here in seconds." Eric stepped past her and she tilted her hooded face toward Oliver and Ferdinand. "Give her to me."

Thalia took Anna's hand and began walking down the hall. She called back over her shoulder to Ausra. "Come with us, Britlingen."

Before they reached the end of the hall, the elevator dinged its arrival on their floor. Thalia pulled Anna into the nearest door and Ausra followed.

From the moment the elevator door opened, Leonas was filled with an odd sense of déjà vu, something so familiar and yet unknown. He immediately saw the heavy guard stationed at Mina's door and he approached at a dead run.

He managed to knock two of the four Britlingen guards aside before the other two drew their swords. When he kicked the door in, he had two silver swords at his throat, as well as Oliver and Ferdinand's daggers poised to take his head if the swords should slip. "Where is she?" he demanded.

Mina shrieked and appeared to melt where she stood. Sookie caught her and when she looked down, Mina winked at her. Oh, how Sookie loved Mina, never more than now. Ever since they'd first met, Sookie had always been able to count on Mina to know what to do in any situation.

"Mina!" Sookie screamed, carefully cradling Mina in her arms. "Leonas! What the hell is wrong with you? Eric, get her leg."

Sookie and Eric carried Mina from the middle of the floor back to her bed and Sookie gently patted Mina's hand to rouse her from her fainting spell as Eric looked on.

Anna Maria took this as her cue to go into action. As she glided over to the doorway, the tiny crystals sewn into her pale peach silk blouse caught the light and cast it back. She stopped directly in front of Leonas with Oliver and Ferdinand on either side and the Britlingens still standing with their swords but a breath away from the flesh of Leonas' flesh. "It's been a long time, Leonas," she purred at him through her sultry smile. "When Andrius said we'd be seeing you here, I hadn't expected it to be under such dramatic circumstances. You've developed quite an unusual flair since we last met."

Anna Maria turned to Sookie and said, "Sookie, I'm surprised no one took the trouble to tell you about the one aversion your guest is most known for. Our mutual friend here vehemently opposes fraternization between vampires and humans. He doesn't approve of keeping and caring for pets. I'm sure that is the cause for his bizarrely enthusiastic entrance." To Leonas, she said, "It's really none of our business."

Tensions seemed to ease up, but Anna Maria wasn't finished. Knowing when to shut up had never been her strong suit. "In fact Sookie, now I think about it, I'm surprised he supported the take over at all, considering it made you queen and you were still human at the time."

"Enough!" Both Eric and Leonas shouted at once.

"Stand down," Eric said.

Oliver, Ferdinand and the Britlingens all put their weapons away. Anna Maria nodded to Eric and stepped back. Leonas gathered his dignity, straightened his jacket and brought himself to his full height.

"I assume you have an explanation for this outburst?" Eric inquired in a tone one might use to ask someone if they preferred popcorn or pretzels as a salty treat.

"You dare ask me for explanations?" Leonas countered. "What are you doing here? This human is your wife's pet, is she not?"

"She is, my friend. But as you so aptly pointed out, the vampire standing beside her is my wife. I find it to be infinitely more convenient to keep company with my wife when we are in a common location."

"Only minutes ago you were at Valhalla," Leonas sneered.

"As were you, if I recall our meeting with the Ambassador correctly."

"Yet you arrived before me?"

"A universal truth, male bravado is frightfully dull," Anna Maria announced. "You boys carry on. I'm off to see if I can't find some more amusing past time." Having said that, she sashayed through the door, closing it behind her.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

In the last room of Lady Anna's hallway, Anna had stopped crying. She lifted her skirt and ripped off a large section of the lining and used it to clean the blood from her face and hands. When the soft white cotton no longer came back red after touching her face, she stood and looked around.

Like all the other rooms in her hall, she'd never actually come inside before. How odd, she thought. I finally enter a room and the only thing in it is something I can see just as well from the hall. She was just about to turn to head back to the hall when she noticed the sole of a man's shoe just behind the edge of the portrait frame.

She stepped to the edge of the portrait and looked behind it. The shoe was on the foot of a man lying on the floor. As Anna cautiously approached him she realized he was dead, but not only that, though she could only see the back of his head, she recognized him. He was the boy who had been next to her on the cart.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

"How long would you like to play this game, Leonas? I have given you use of my driver since you do not fly. As it happens, I do, and being desirous of my Queen's society after having had my fill of yours, I availed myself of my gift and flew here. Had I been aware you were of a mind to visit the sick I might have joined you in the limo, though considering your foul disposition of late it is more likely I would have chosen to remain at home."

Electing to end his sparring with Eric, Leonas turned his attention to Sookie. "Do you make a habit of keeping your pets so heavily guarded, my dear? This one appears to be hobbled. Surely she would not get far in an escape attempt?"

"The guards are not to keep her here, Leonas," Sookie answered, releasing Mina's hand and taking Eric's. "I haven't been a vampire very long, as you know. I recently had a disagreement with the local Were pack leader. I think you're aware of that problem too. It involved my brother. You had Ferdinand keeping him at The Leanne Institute. Mina is my favorite. I don't want to risk her being injured by anyone trying to get back at me."

"Yes, of course," Leonas conceded. "Dogs have no appreciation of a good game of cat and mouse. They don't like to lose."

"I don't think anyone likes to lose," Sookie said.

"Indeed not," Leonas responded, his charming tone and knowing smile having returned to his face. "I offer my apologies for the interruption. Now if you'll excuse me, I believe I'll go find Miss Anna Maria and see if I can't help her find the amusement she went searching for."

Eric nodded. "As you wish. Good evening, Leonas."

Sookie was pulling against Eric's hand almost as soon as Leonas was out the door. "No, Dearest," he said in a low voice. "You must not follow him out. You do not know where to go."

"But we have to help Anna," Sookie whispered back.

"And how would you propose we help her? Do you know where she is?"

"Not right this minute, but-"

"Precisely, so you are of no use to her at the moment. Thalia will bring Lady Anna back to her room across the hall and in the mean time Anna Maria will lead Leonas on a merry chase. If we are fortunate, they will return to Valhalla for the evening."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Lady Anna didn't follow as quickly as Thalia would have liked but there was little she could do about it short of picking her up and carrying her out. Unfortunately, that was not an option since a person Thalia's size carrying a woman who was nearly six feet tall would be bound to attract more attention than she cared to deal with.

The room they had ducked into turned out to be a supply closet. After waiting for the door to Mina's room to be closed they waited a moment longer to be certain Leonas was staying inside before heading toward the elevator. Just as the elevator doors were closing behind them, Leonas came out of Mina's room.

"Anna Maria!" Leonas called when he saw the elevator closing on his view of her peach blouse and cream colored A-line skirt.

The moment the elevator doors closed, a panel in the ceiling moved. "Quickly," Anna Maria hissed from the top of the elevator.

Thalia grabbed Lady Anna and flew up through the open space, landing on top. Lady Anna dropped to her knees at once, while Anna Maria pulled Ausra up, then dropped down into the elevator herself. The switch complete, Thalia replaced the ceiling panel.

In the room in Lady Anna's head, she knelt beside the dead boy. He was lying on his side, his dark blonde hair matted against his face.

"How did you get in here?" Anna asked sweetly, knowing full well the boy couldn't answer. "It's alright. I'll put you back where you belong." She gently pulled him onto his back and brushed his hair from his face.

She jumped to her feet and stumbled backward. On the roof of the elevator she fell backward onto her rear end and Ausra helped her to her feet. "He's dead," Anna whispered.

"We must be quiet, my lady. We'll have you back to your room soon," Ausra said in an effort to calm her.

"It was him on the cart. I didn't realize. I didn't know it was him."

"Make her be quiet!" Anna Maria demanded in a hushed voice, from inside the elevator.

Ausra begged Lady Anna to stop speaking, but she would have none of it. Her muttering continued. The elevator was almost to the lobby when Thalia decided to take action. She grabbed Anna around the waist with one arm, clamped her other hand over Anna's mouth and shot straight up through the elevator shaft.

In her mind, Lady Anna was reeling. She staggered back to look into the eyes in the portrait; the hair; the set of his jaw; his hands. "You aren't Nicholas. Long ago you were called The Norseman. She calls you Eric. You were never Nicholas. Oh my god, you came to my husband's home with a woman and I attacked her, yet you were not unkind."

She stood there trying to make sense of it. Letting the memories wash over her and soaking them in as quickly as they came. "My husband," she said with a smile growing on her face. She turned and went into the hall to look at the mural on the wall. It was complete.

There was Eric to the side, staring into the eyes of the woman he loves, Sookie and she was staring back at him, her eyes reflecting the love in his. And there in the center of the wall, right where he should be was the face of the man she loved, his eyes filled with all the patience and adoration he had always shown her. "I have to go home," she tried to say, but something was over her mouth. She ran as fast as she could for the front of the hall, where she could close her eyes and find her way back to herself. She didn't need her hiding place any more.

The elevator reached the lobby and the doors slid open. Leonas was standing there to greet Anna Maria.

"You are a difficult woman to catch," Leonas said with a smirk.

"Am I?" she asked, trying to sidestep him in order to lead him into the lobby. "I didn't realize you'd given chase." His hands were outstretched and holding the doors apart. He was barring her way.

"I missed you going into the elevator upstairs. I took the stairs."

Anna Maria laughed off handedly and put a hand on his arm. "I guess you made quick work of The Norseman. I always thought he was more confident than he had any right to be. Since you have his car and driver, perhaps you might offer a girl a ride back to the hotel?"

"Do you require an escort to your room or are you open to the possibility of a detour?"

She leaned in close to his ear. "I am always open to possibilities," she purred.

Leonas slipped an arm around Anna Maria's waist just as something crashed onto the roof of the elevator.

The expression on Anna Maria's face told him almost all he needed to know. A quick punch through the ceiling panel told him the rest as a woman's shoe fell into the elevator. He looked up through the hole. Anna was dangling several floors above, fighting with someone he couldn't see, but it didn't matter. She was here. His Anna was here. He had to get back to Sookie.

First he ran to the front door and yelled for his guards, in full battle gear, who were standing beside the car. He then bolted for the stairwell to run back up the six floors he had just run down. Anna Maria watched in horror as the guards swept through the lobby and followed Leonas up the stairs. Everything they'd hoped to avoid was about to happen. She had tried. There was nothing more she could do.

On the seventh floor, Thalia finally managed to get the elevator shaft doors open. Anna had lost a shoe as they tussled. When the doors opened she kicked her other shoe off and wrenched herself away from Thalia. Anna was strong, but Thalia was faster. Thalia caught her again and tried to pull her down a different corridor.

"We're heading the wrong way, you fool!" Anna complained. "We have to leave. I have to go home, to Vincentas"

"Lady Anna, please," Thalia begged. "We have to hide."

"I've spent enough time hiding. I've hidden for years and years, for centuries because I didn't know where I was or what I was. I have to go home now. I don't want to hide any more." Anna broke free again and bolted down the hall toward her room.

Halfway up the hall the stairwell door opened and Leonas stepped out in front of her. She couldn't believe her eyes. She skidded to a stop and scrambled wildly to reverse course. "Vincentas!" she cried. "I have to go home!"

"Anna, it's Leonas. You never have to go back there."

"NO!" she screamed as she ran back toward Thalia. "Help me! Vincentas!"

Mina's doorway was filled with onlookers. Eric was restraining Sookie as she screamed Anna's name and Oliver was standing in front of her in case Eric's hold should slip. Ferdinand had his dagger drawn and was in formation with the Britlingens.

And then he did it. Leonas planted his feet and called, "Anna! Come to me."

Anna stopped cold just before reaching Thalia. Her eyes grew wide and her hands flew to her stomach.

The world seems to stop with all eyes on Anna as she slowly turned around to face Leonas. "What's happening?" she cried as she doubled over. She looked up and took a step. "No. This isn't happening. NO! Vincentas! I want to go home to Vincentas!"

"At last!" Leonas brayed as the stairwell door opened again and his four guards came through.

"Leonas, please, why are you doing this?" Anna cried. "You're hurting me, please stop."

"You'll like California, Anna. I promise," Leonas said. "Come to me."

"NO!" she screamed. "I want Vincentas!"

"Never again!" Leonas countered. "Take her to the car," he ordered. "We're going to the airport." He turned and bowed dramatically to Eric and Sookie. "As it turns out, the fates are kind at last. It seems I am not in need of your services after all, Mrs. Northman."

Behind him the guards were removing their helmets as one of them ran to Anna, who was crumpled in pain and crying in the middle of the floor.

Anna looked up through her tears at the man kneeling beside her. "You came," she said. "I cried for you and you came." She collapsed against him and he held her as she continued crying.

"You are my great love, Anna. I will always come for you, if you will have me."

She screamed in pain again and clutched at Vincentas. "I remember," she stammered. "I remember everything. Sookie helped me see. I want to go home, with you, where I belong. Please take me, AHHHHHHHHHHRRRR."

"Is this to be your choice, my brother?" Vincentas bellowed, both his voice and his body shaking with rage.

"I AM HER MAKER!" Leonas insisted. By law and by right, she is mine. She is my progeny!"

Tenderly bringing Anna with him, Vincentas stood, the determination in his eyes reinforcing the conviction in his voice. "She is my Queen."


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

.

Dark clouds, heavy with tomorrow's rain, hung low in the gray hour before dawn. The echoes of their muted rumblings rolling through the air as if the very sky its self was complaining the sun approached too quickly.

Inside the sixth floor of the Shreve General Orthopedic Hospital, lives were being decided.

"Where are my guards?" Leonas demanded as he struggled against the hold of the three holding him.

"In your car, downstairs," Vincentas replied.

Leonas looked to Anna and screamed her name. She instinctively grasped her stomach, expecting to be struck with another pain and was surprised it didn't come.

"You are too close for him to hurt you," Vincentas said softly, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "He cannot summon who stands before him."

Anna gazed forlornly up at Vincentas. "Will we always have to keep him so close to us? To me?"

"Only for a little while longer, my love. Then you will be free."

Turning back to Leonas, she said, "I do not understand you."

"You do not need to understand me," he spat back. "You need only understand you are mine and you owe me."

The confusion was plain on her face as she considered his words. "No," she answered, stepping out of Vincentas' hold and toward Leonas. Her soft voice was clear and unafraid as she continued. "I owe you nothing, though my debts to others are many."

Anna walked across the hall to Mina's doorway, where Sookie stood, still firmly in Eric's arms.

"Anna," Sookie whispered.

"My debt to you can never be repaid. What gift could possibly compensate you for releasing me from six centuries in a prison of turmoil and confusion?"

"No, really," Sookie began, but she wasn't allowed to finish her thought.

Without warning, Anna gracefully lowered herself to one knee on the floor in front on Sookie.

Anna's sudden move brought Vincentas instantly to her side, offering her his hand as if she had fallen. She did not take it. Rather, she bowed her head low. "I pledge to Your Majesty, my obligation. From this day forward, for so long as we both exist on this Earth, I shall deny you nothing. Any request you make of me, be it great or small, I shall commit myself to fulfilling it."

Sookie was stunned. As her thoughts stumbled over themselves, she said, "Anna, I-I don't know what to say."

"If I may?" Vincentas interrupted. When he joined Anna by taking a knee beside her, the collective gasp in the hallway was deafening. Even Leonas' struggling was stilled by the sight of a reigning European King kneeling at the feet of a baby vampire, albeit she was an acknowledged Queen herself by way of being the chosen bride of the Norseman.

"The obligations of its Queen are likewise the obligations of the Crown of Lithuania. We are at Your Majesty's disposal, to be called upon as you will." Having made his pledge, Vincentas too lowered his head.

"Oh, please," Sookie pleaded. "You don't owe me a thing. I was happy to help. Please, get up. Eric, help me."

Eric stepped from behind Sookie and took his place at her side. "Rise, honored friends. Let us not mar this occasion with talk of debts. Vincentas, shall we take the ladies safely back to Valhalla before sunrise?"

Vincentas stood, lifting Anna along side him. "Yes, my friend. There is much to be done before the dawn."

"Very well. Ferdinand, arrange transport for Leonas' guards, who I believe occupy my car below." Turning to Vincentas, Eric said, "Take my car. Sookie and I will follow, as I believe you will be taking your brother with you to maintain proximity?"

"Indeed," Vincentas stated, already turning to leave. "On the roof?"

"Yes. We will meet you there. Oliver, inform my lady's driver we are coming down." Eric placed a hand on Sookie's elbow and attempted to move her forward.

"Wait," she sputtered, twisting from his loose grasp. She looked back at Mina, but she spoke to Oliver. "Oliver, before you come home, feed her. I want her home tomorrow. I've been without her long enough."

"Consider it done, Mistress," Oliver responded with a nod and a smile almost as radiant as Mina's.

Sookie went in to Mina's bedside, taking Mina's hand and holding it to her cheek. "Drink as much as you can, Mina. Come home to me tomorrow. Please. Your doctors can come to Valhalla to finish your treatment if you still need it."

"I will greet you when you rise, Mistress," Mina replied with happy tears flowing down her face.

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Once in their limo Sookie relaxed for the first time all night. She snuggled into Eric's side as if she would fall asleep, but sleep was the furthest thing from her mind. "Leonas is going to be put to death, isn't he?"

"Yes," Eric answered, draping an arm around her and drawing her closer.

"At Valhalla."

"It would be impossible to arrange any other location with such little notice, my love."

"And it has to be done now?"

"It is the only way to prevent him torturing Anna. Otherwise she would have to be kept within 15 feet or so of him and I feel certain she has no desire to spend any longer than necessary in such close proximity."

"Do you suppose he ever really loved her? Or was she was always just a prized trophy to him?"

"I cannot say, Dearest. It is impossible to truly know the heart of another vampire."

Sookie pushed away from Eric enough to be able to look up into his eyes. "What a silly thing to say. I know your heart and surely you know mine?"

"Your heart is a secret to no one, my love. You wear it quite transparently." The warmth of his smile was exceeded by his kiss, so soft, yet it spoke of untold passions even she had yet to discover. They remained thusly occupied until the car came to a stop at the front entrance of Valhalla. Brought back to reality, they hurried to the elevator, up to the top floor and out onto the roof.

At least a dozen Britlingens were busily preparing the spot for Leonas to be chained. Others were wandering about the roof to be certain no unauthorized humans or vampires were present.

Sookie and Eric walked to the edge of the building and stared out. "I feel like this place will be contaminated after tonight; like I won't ever be able to stand up here again without thinking of him. He'll still be taking from us, even after he's gone." Sookie's voice was steady, but with an edge of sadness as she clung to Eric and looked out into the brink of morning.

"He can only take what we choose to give him, my love," Eric said softly, leaning in to kiss her forehead. "Nothing more."

"It's like everything around us is spinning and spinning and we're stuck in some sort of weird calm in the middle and we can't do anything. All we can do is watch everything spin."

Eric chuckled and squeezed her tight against him. "Our situation is not nearly so dire as you describe. A bit surreal, perhaps, but hardly threatening. We are safe. We are together and our kingdom is left completely intact. I should think we have more than ample cause for celebration; once this tawdry bit of business is finished."

"Well, I certainly don't feel like celebrating right now," she said with a shiver.

"It may surprise you, how quickly your good humor returns."

"I hope you're right. I don't like this feeling of gloom and doom hanging over everything."

"I promise you this, my love. If tomorrow arrives and the amiability of your surroundings has failed to return, I shall issue a proclamation demanding it do so at once," he vowed with all the seriousness and ceremony in his tone of issuing trial verdicts.

It had the desired effect. She laughed and looked up at him as if he had just announced he was giving up their kingdom and opening a circus. "I suppose you actually believe you have that kind of power?" she asked with a skeptical arched brow.

With a hand to his chest as if he'd been seriously wounded and mock outrage quavering through his body and voice, he said, "Do you think to imply such powers are beyond abilities? What evidence do you offer to support this nefarious claim?" His entire demeanor shifted. Suddenly he was the gracefully seductive cat who prowled their bed. His hands slid down her back as he leaned, nudging her hair back with his head so he could kiss her neck. His fangs grazed her shoulder before his lips found their way back to her ear. "Do you deny I have altered your disposition in the past?" he whispered almost inaudibly. "Confess I hold such powers in my hand or I shall ravage you here and now to prove my point."

"Eric." Her voice was a breathless sighing moan which only served to encourage him. "Eric, stop. They'll be here any second."

"Your words belie the actions of your body, my sweet. Confess." He bit lightly, scarcely breaking her skin. A single drop of blood escaped along side her gasp. "Confess." His lips encircled the droplet and kissed it away.

"I confess," she said at last. "I love you and you can do anything."

He released her at once, resuming his serious stance and leaving her reeling to catch her balance. "Much better," he said with a wink, and before she had a chance to become angry with him, "And not a moment too soon. Listen, our guests have arrived."

No sooner than he spoke, Anna's voice rang out as the door was opened.

"We are leaving the vampires of California without a king," Anna was saying as she and Vincentas stepped onto the roof. They followed the chained Leonas, who was escorted by Ferdinand and the three vampire guards who had been disguised, along with Vincentas, as Leonas' guards at the hospital. "Who will maintain order?" she continued.

Vincentas gave her a reassuring pat on the arm. "Fear not, Anna. In anticipation of this problem, I sent Andrius to California earlier tonight. He will meet with Leonas' second in command, Raoul Soldato, first thing tomorrow evening. They will await instructions for the succession."

"Await instructions," Leonas spat. "You assume you will not have a battle on your hands, brother."

Vincentas glanced in Leonas' direction. "I will only have a battle if this Raoul of yours is an idiot, which I feel safe in assuming is not the case. He will not risk death while there remains the possibility of his own succession."

Leonas' mad laughter echoed through the pre-dawn sky. "You have sent Andrius to tell him he waits to be crowned? And you expect him to believe this lie?"

"Convincing someone of the truth is rarely a difficult matter, particularly for one as skilled in the art of speech as my Ambassador. If Andrius finds Raoul to be qualified for leadership, he will lead, if the position is passed over by two others."

More laughter from Leonas as Vincentas, with Anna clinging to his side, walked to Sookie. "California has long been in want of a Queen. It is yours, if you desire it."

Sookie took a step backward and almost violently shook her head. "No! I don't want California. I mean, not for mine. I might want to visit some time, but I don't want it all the time."

Vincentas turned to Eric. "Would your lady feel differently if California were hers by way of being wife to its King?"

"Thank you, my friend, but I suspect not. We are quite content with what is already ours. However, if I could make one small request, it would be the return of the small piece of Nevada which was passed to Leonas in exchange for his assistance to me in the acquisition."

"Of course. Your kingdom is thus restored. Have you called for witnesses to the execution?"

"Yes," Eric replied. "Two of my Queen's pets and a pet of my Sheriff have volunteered for the duty." Eric motioned to the spot near the door where Pandora, Heller and Genevieve stood. "There is also a contingent of Britlingens on hand to replace your guards when they retire to the indoors."

"My valet is on his way to join them. He will serve as my Lady's witness. We will stay until the sun forces us to come inside. I fear my brother will summon her until the last and attempt to take her with him."

Sookie reached out and took Anna's hand. "I'm so sorry you have to go through this."

"Papa used to say, complete freedom is a luxury very few can afford." Anna looked over at Leonas, then her gaze returned to Sookie. "You freed me from the six hundred year betrayal of my mind. Soon the sun will free me from the betrayal of my body. My suffering will be short. A few moments being held back from his call: a small price to pay for eternity."

The door leading to the service entry to the top residential floor of Valhalla opened and a tall slender human man came out onto the roof. He bowed to Vincentas, then to Eric, before silently walking over to join Pandora, Heller and Genevieve where they stood near Leonas.

"You should go inside," Anna said. "Vincentas has people just inside to carry us to his room, so we can wait out here until the last possible moment."

Sookie slipped an arm around Eric's waist. "We'll see you tomorrow evening, first thing."

Eric nodded to Vincentas and Anna before easing Sookie to the door. "Come, my love. We will see them again when the sun has gone."

Sookie allowed herself to be ushered through the door, but once inside, she said, "Oh Eric, can't we stay? Couldn't we have the Britingens bring us back to our room if we didn't make it all the way back before sunrise? I don't want to leave her alone."

"We could, but she is not alone, Dearest. She is in the company of her chosen, which if I am not mistaken, is precisely where she wants to be. If the situation were reversed and it were you on the roof counting down the moments before you were dragged away from a maker gone mad who was summoning you with all his strength until he was claimed by the sun, do you believe you would be comforted by more than my presence? Would it be Anna's or my arms you would wish to embrace you as the pain of being unable to respond to the summoning, as you were carried further away, made its demands upon your body?"

Sookie tightened her arm around Eric's waist and leaned her head against him as they walked down the corridor. "Only your arms could make it bearable."

"Do not fear for her. Vincentas is more than capable of seeing to her. He will not allow her to suffer more than is necessary. Trust me. When you see her after sundown, she will bear no signs of tonight's events and she will be happy to see you."

"I do trust you," she replied, her fears having been mostly alleviated.

Meanwhile, on the roof of Valhalla, Vincentas and Anna sat on a cushioned wicker sofa, just behind where Leonas was chained to a vent shaft. They faced his back, so as to keep him constantly within their line of sight, yet to keep themselves out of his. Vincentas had vowed to him, he had seen Anna for the last time. He would not be permitted to go to his death with a vision of her as his last sight.

"Vincentas, my brother," Leonas called in a raspy voice, trying to keep the searing pain of the silver chains from his tone. "Tell me, what will you do when she decides you are not enough for her? When she dreams of our friend, the Norseman, and leaves you to throw herself at his feet? Who will you have wrapped in silver chains then?"

"The Norseman's affections are happily engaged elsewhere, brother, and if they were not, though she is all I love, she would be free to pursue him, if such was her wish."

Anna opened her mouth to protest, but Vincentas smiled and prevented her words with a tender kiss. "Do not reward his venom with the sound of your voice, my dear," he said softly.

"Do you believe him Anna? Do you believe he would free you? He who has kept you in a gilt prison for six hundred years? Would he simply open the palace gates and watch his long held prized possession walk away from him? You, who he has so carefully guarded for so long? If the Norseman's woman has left you with any reasoning capability at all, you cannot believe such a notion is possible."

Anna was staring intently into Vincentas' eyes. She saw the truth in them. What Leonas didn't realize was how completely she remembered everything. For six centuries, Vincentas had denied her nothing. Every luxury imaginable has been laid at her feet and she had been offered every freedom possible. Yes, she had been heavily guarded, but her guards had never interfered with her except on the very rare occasions when she had tried to stay outside until sunrise. They had really been more her protectors than guards.

Vincentas had always demanded everyone treat her with absolute respect, regardless of her behavior, which she was embarrassed to recall had been quite erratic and unbalanced at times. She remembered a time she had burst into a conference room. Vincentas had been meeting with many people. She demanded to know why the palace courtyards contained so much yarrow? While she found yarrow to be a perfectly agreeable flower, she felt the gardens should have a greater abundance of rue, particularly since rue was the national flower.

Vincentas had excused himself from his meeting, offered her his arm and escorted her to a nearby anteroom. There they had sat for at least two hours discussing the flowers in the palace gardens. After only a short time, he had called for the head gardener to join them. The gardener had explained the many medicinal uses of yarrow, thus they kept a plentiful supply on hand.

Vincentas had suggested a field of yarrow be planted somewhere close, yet outside the palace walls, allowing for more space to be allotted for rue. "What colors would My Lady prefer?" he had asked.

"Violet and white," she had responded, "And meadow rue as well, not the petaled type alone."

Anna looked into Vincentas' eyes now and saw the same patience and kindness which had always been there. No, she had never been in a prison. She had been in a garden which she had been allowed to create and change as she desired. She had never been chained there. If she wandered out, no one had ever stopped her unless it was near sunrise.

She knew with certainty Vincentas would never prevent her leaving him. Just as certainly as she knew she would never leave. In a few minutes she would be completely free, and all she wanted was to go home.

Vincentas looked up toward the horizon. "It is time," he said to her. He took her hand and she stood. "Close ranks!" he shouted.

The response was immediate. One contingent of Britlingens came together in a shoulder-to-shoulder circle around Leonas, close enough to touch him from behind, giving the sun a wider berth to meet him from the front.

As the second, smaller contingent of Britlingens, along with Ferdinand and one of Vincentas' vampire guards, arranged themselves around Vincentas and Anna, Leonas cracked. "Vincentas! I am your brother! You cannot do this for the sake of a woman!"

With the weight of his sadness clear in his voice, Vincentas answered his brother for the last time. "I do not act for the sake of a woman, Leonas. I act for the sake of the reigning Queen of the sovereign kingdom of Lithuania and my resolve is steeled for the sake of Anna, Queen of my heart for near six centuries."

The door was opened and Vincentas hurried Anna inside. They left Leonas behind them screaming her name. They were not ten yards down the hall when Anna doubled over. Vincentas snatched her up and ran for the elevators, joined by Ferdinand and the guard. By the time the elevator doors closed she had wrenched herself away and was writhing and shrieking in the floor.

"Let me carry you," Vincentas whispered to her when they had come down one floor. "By the time we get to our rooms it will be over."

"Make him stop!" she cried out before screaming in agony.

On the roof, the first golden ray of sunrise was creeping to the waiting gathering. Before it reached them, Genevieve shoved her way between two of the Britlingens.

Leonas smiled grimly at her. "So the pet in denial has a taste for the macabre, I see. Were my executioners blocking your view?"

"Yes. And because I am **not** in denial, I need to watch you die. I need to know you will never threaten my mistress again." With that, she stepped close and spit in his face. As her saliva slid down his cheek and his expression boiled with outrage, she felt the growing warmth on her back. "Let the spot defiled by your enemy's pet be the last bit of you to burn."

With a wicked smile, Genevieve stepped aside and watched Leonas' eyes grow wide as the sun touched him for the first time in over seven hundred years. Within seconds he was gone, his ashes scattered by the morning breeze.

Inside, a floor below, Anna went limp just as Vincentas was again lifting her off the floor. "It's over," she murmured. She gave herself over to sleep as soon as the words escaped her lips.

Vincentas was barely able to get her to her bed before he too collapsed. Within moments his human valet arrived and instructed the guards to carry him to the adjoining bedroom.

"I thought she remembered him now?" one of the guards asked as he lifted Vincentas' legs.

"Yes," the valet replied. "However, His Majesty does not wish for the Queen to be startled upon waking. His instructions were quite explicit. Regardless of the evening's events, if it was left to me to retire them for the day, they were to be placed in separate but adjoining rooms."

~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~

Sookie smiled and stretched, as she broke free of death's repose for the evening. This feeling was so much more than simply waking. For a few seconds every evening, as her body came to life, it was as if she was feeling everything for the first time. Even the air against her skin was a thrilling sensation. This had quickly become her favorite part of the night and she tried to make a point of savoring it.

Eric was no longer in bed, but he was still in the room. She could feel his closeness, his eyes upon her. She could almost hear his voice.

"I see you shall have to be schooled in the arts of extravagance, my love."

Not exactly what she'd thought to hear. She opened her eyes to find him, just as she'd imagined, standing beside their bed, naked. Though his eyes, rather than being filled with admiration and lust as they stared at her, were filled with amusement and triumph as they stared at his cell phone.

Her smile vanished. She furrowed her brows and looked up at him. "All the elegant ladies around here lately remind you of something you miss?"

It was clear from the change in his expression as his gaze moved form the phone to her, he at a total loss. "I beg your pardon?"

"I need to be schooled in the arts of extravagance. Is that some fancy way of calling me white trash? My family was never royalty or rich, but we were all good, honest people."

Eric cocked his head and met her stare. She wasn't sure of her argument or she would have continued, he decided. His meaning was not clear to her and she suspected he had insulted her, and though she was not certain, she was letting him know she would not shrink from defending herself. She was not afraid. She was magnificent. A slow smile crept across his lips.

"Sookie, I believe the inner workings of your mind are perhaps the greatest mystery I have ever encountered. I have no doubts regarding the quality of your family; you are royalty and in case you were unaware, you are quite rich now, with or without me. Louisiana is a community property state." He reached down and nudged her legs aside, taking a seat on the bed in the place they vacated. He took her hand and said, "Allow me to explain. I received a report this evening from Bobby, on your spending. If left to your own devices, I fear even _my_ hair will go gray before you are able to manage it."

"Oh," she said. She could feel a sudden rush of nerves course through her. "I know I've spent an awful lot lately. It just seems like everything's so expensive."

"Sookie," he tried, but the attempted interruption was ignored completely.

"We've taken so much space at the hospital and Mina's treatment is outrageous and then all those musical instruments and the lessons for them all. I probably shouldn't have done that. It really wasn't reasonable. She reached over with her free hand and grasped his, squeezing his hands tight. "But it made them so happy, Eric. You should have seen their faces. I couldn't possibly take any of it back, but I promise I'll do better from now on."

"Are you quite finished? Or is more of this aimless rambling aching to be released?"

"That's all," she whispered.

"Good. In future, Dearest, I suggest you establish the nature of the attack before launching your defense. In addition, it might also be useful to be certain there is indeed an attack at all.

Now, if you will recall, some time ago we made a wager."

"We did?"

"Yes, I thought it probable you had forgotten." He shifted in his seat and Sookie leaned forward, curiosity having overtaken her confusion. Eric continued. "Mr. Burnham tells me your spending habits are positively disgraceful and after thoroughly going over his report, I must agree. If any of the elegant ladies as you call them were see this report, they would be convinced I had you on a restrictive budget and I would be a laughing stock."

After several seconds of blank staring between them, Sookie finally replied. "What?"

Eric chuckled and went on, "You were concerned about spending too much and I said you should spend as you please my challenge would be to see if I could make money faster than you spend it."

"Oh, that. Did I win?" She asked her question partly out of guilt that she may have done it and partly from anticipation since she now remembered the prize if she won the bet.

"No, you failed miserably. I'm afraid Mr. Burnham has not gained a single gray hair since you were given your accounts. So I see I shall have to arrange for you to be taught how to spend. And there are no superior consultants in the finer points of lavish superfluousness than the ladies of the courts of Europe and the Mediterranean. Several of them have bankrupting the treasuries of entire countries to their credit."

"But I didn't win, so we can't go there. Are we inviting a lot of people here?"

"You did not win, so we cannot go on a trip around the world. We can however vacation in Europe."

Sookie's face lit up. "We're going to Europe? When?"

"As soon as you please, my love. I assume you will want to wait until you've seen to Mina's recovery so she may be part of your entourage."

Sookie threw her arms around Eric and held him tight. He responded at once, enfolding her in his embrace. "Everything really is alright now, isn't it?" she asked.

"My dearest love, everything is perfect."

**The End**


End file.
